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BERKELEY 

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V 


FISHERMAN'S   LURES 

AND 

GAME-FISH  FOOD 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/fishermansluresgOOrhearich 


When  the  pussy-willows  bloom 


COPTRIOHT,    1920,   BT 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Published  May,  1920 


THAT  ALL  FISHERMEN 

MAY   KEEP  THEIR  MEMORY   FRESH   AND  GREEN 

THIS   BOOK 

IS  AFFECTIONATELY   INSCRIBED  TO 

THREE   ANGLING  WRITERS  AND   DEAR  COMPANIONS 

BUT    LATELY    GONE   OVER  AND   BEYOND 

CHARLES  HALLOCK,  M.A. 

COLONEL   WM.    C.    HARRIS 

KIVERT   (KIT)  CLARKE 

ALL  THREE   OF  WHOM  WIELDED  THEIR  RODS  TILL  PAST 
THEIR  EIGHTY-FIFTH   MILESTONE 


IV1838922 


This  book  has  a  twofold  object.  First:  To  multi- 
ply largely  all  species  of  game-fish  for  the  people's 
use  by  a  new  method  and  a  logical  system  of 
"feeding"  that  will  more  rapidly  attain  a  better 
result  in  the  conservation  of  American  fresh-water 
game-fishes,  and  also  encourage  a  greater  abun- 
dance, a  larger  and  quicker  growth,  and  a  superior 
food  value.  Second:  To  vastly  improve  present 
angling  conditions  by  introducing  a  new  and  en- 
tirely superior  style  of  fishing  with  artificial 
nature  lures  in  place  of  the  live  bait  that  is  now 
being  employed  in  ever-increasing  quantities.  The 
amount  of  game-fish  food  used  for  this  purpose 
from  the  waters  of  the  Eastern  seaboard  has  been 
so  great  in  the  past  as  to  cause  a  decided  shrink- 
age in  the  size  and  number  of  nearly  all  species 
of  game-fish  caught  on  rod  and  line.  It  is  quite 
possible,  as  time  goes  on,  if  this  unnecessary  waste 


PREFACE 


of  fish  food  continues,  anglers  and  others  interested 
will  find  that  their  favorite  recreation  will  become 
utterly  worthless  to  pursue.  I  contend  that  the 
present  breeding  and  planting  of  game-fishes,  both 
for  economic  and  sporting  uses,  would  be  much 
improved  if  more  feeding  and  less  breeding  were 
done. 
It  is  my  intention  to  make  this  a  companion 
volume,  or  rather,  supplementary  to  my  work  on 
Trout  Stream  Insects  and  thus  to  make  more 
complete  the  much-needed  information  so  neces- 
sary to  the  angler's  higher  enjoyment  of  the  sport. 
It  contains  material  which  has  not  been  given 
heretofore  in  angling  books.  The  creatures  pic- 
tured in  colors  were  all  painted  from  living  speci- 
mens captured  in  various  parts  of  the  Temperate 
Zone,  and  the  descriptions  of  their  habits  are  from 
careful  personal  studies  made  during  many  years' 
intimate  acquaintance  with  them  in  the  waters 
in  which  they  abide.  If  only  a  few  of  the  sugges- 
tions made  here  on  fish  conservation  bear  fruit,  I 
shall  consider  my  labor  well  paid;  but  further 
than  that,  I  hope  to  induce  many  thoughtful  men 
to  realize  that  angling  as  a  fine  art  can  be  better 
enjoyed  if  the  angler  has  some  knowledge  of  ani- 
mated nature  connected  with  his  sport. 


PREFACE 


If  the  wet  or  dry  fly  angler  fails  to  lure  trout,  he 
does  not  stop  to  reason  why,  but  promptly  digs 
some  worms.  If  that  fails  he  comforts  himself  with 
the  assurance  of  having  done  his  very  best.  A 
careful  reading  of  this  volume  will,  I  hope,  convince 
him  that  there  is  a  better  way — a  higher  and  much 
more  pleasing  and  effective  way  to  get  his  desires 
fulfilled. 

For  the  information  required  concerning  game- 
fishes  and  their  food,  I  have  had  to  rely  entirely 
upon  my  own  nature  study,  finding  nothing  of 
value  on  habits  and  habitats  necessary  to  this 
work  in  either  angling  or  scientific  works.  Scien- 
tists deem  it  more  important  to  tell  the  number  of 
scales  on  the  gills,  while  angling  authors  write  on 
tackle,  and  how  to  use  it.  Curiously  enough,  each 
generation  repeats  the  other,  from  Cuvier  the 
scientist  and  Walton  the  angler  down  the  line  to 
our  times. 

For  the  colored  page  of  minnows  I  am  much  in- 
debted to  John  W.  Titcomb,  N.  Y.  State  fish  cul- 
turist,  in  loaning  me  government  color-plates  from 
his  private  library  from  which  to  make  copies. 
Also  my  thanks  are  due  the  Hon.  Hugh  McCor- 
mick  Smith,  Chief  Commissioner  of  Fisheries, 
Washington,  D.  C,  for  his  courtesy  in  giving  me 


PREFACE 


various  government  documents;  Mr.  Alexander 
Walker,  of  Butte,  Montana,  for  valued  informa- 
tion given  me  on  the  Montana  rainbow-trout; 
and  many  others,  among  them  those  anglers  who 
have  written  me  of  their  pleasure  and  success  in 
the  use  of  my  nature  lures. 
All  but  three  of  these  chapters  have  been  printed 
in  various  sporting  magazines  during  the  last  five 
years,  but  so  much  has  been  added  and  changed 
to  include  my  latest  studies  as  to  make  them  en- 
tirely new.  The  periodicals  in  which  these  arti- 
cles have  appeared  are  the  following:  American 
Angler,  Field  and  Stream,  National  Sportsman, 
Forest  and  Stream,  Rod  and  Gun  in  Canada, 
Metropolitan,  New  York  Herald,  Outing,  Outer's 
Recreation, 


CONTENTS 


II. 


III. 


Introductory  Note 


encouraging  the  growth  and  abundance  op 
game-fish. 

The  Importance  of  Minnows  and  Their 
Allies  for  Game-Fish  Food  .... 

SUNFISH  AND  SILVERSIDES — ^IMPORTANCE  OF  BREED- 
ING AND  PLANTING CATCHING  AND  KEEPING TRANS- 
planting. 

Characteristic  Habits  of  Various  Surface 
AND  Bottom  Creatures  that  Game-Fish 
Eat 

their  relative  value  as  baits — the  hellgram- 

MITE the  crawfish the  cricket THE  GRASS- 
HOPPER— THE  LAMPREY — THE  GREEN  AND  BROWN 
FROGS — VARIOUS  CATERPILLARS — DRAGON-FLIES  AND 

darning-needles— the  mouse  bait. 

New    Bottom-Creeper    Baits    for    Trout 
Not  Heretofore  Known       .... 
fished  like  a  fly — trout-hellgrammite — caddis- 
creeper — ^yellow  nymph-creeper — limitations. 


FAGK 

1 


14 


23 


44 


IV.    How  Different  Foods  Affect  Game-Fishes      55 

INSECT  diet  INDUCES  FAST  GROWTH — ^WHAT  ARE  THE 
TROUT   DOING   ON  HOT   DAYS? — ARTIFICIAL    LURES — 
SCIENTIFIC  TESTS — ^FLAVOR  OF  FISH  DEPENDS  ON  DIET 
— ^WHAT  ARE  THE  MOST  SEDUCTIVE  LURES  ? 
xi 


xii  CONTENTS 


V.    Bottom  Fish  Food  in  Lakes  in  Relation  to 

Why  Trout  Don't  Take  Flies  ...       66 

DIFFERENCE  IN  FEEDING  IN  DIFFERENT  BODIES  OF 
WATER — EXAMINATION  OF  STOMACH — WORMS — PURG- 
ING  EXPERIMENTS     WITH     OTHER     LURES     IF     FISH 

don't   TAKE   FLIES. 


VI.    Nocturnal  Feeding  of  Game-Fish    ...       73 

EVIDENCE    OF    NIGHT    FEEDING DOUBTFUL    WISDOM 

OF  MAKING  NIGHT  FISHING   POPULAR — ^ADVISABILITY 
OF  ARTIFICIAL  BAITS  FOR  NIGHT  FISHING. 


VII.  A  Descriptive  Chart-Plan  to  Show  the 
Haunts  Where  Trout  Feed  in  a  Run- 
ning Stream 79 

WHERE   ARE   THE  BEST   PLACES  TO   FISH.'' — ^AERATED 

WATER — DIFFICULTY  OF  LEARNING  HABITS OCCUPIES 

STATIONARY  POSITIONS  FOR  LONG  PERIODS. 

VIII.     A  Descriptive  Chart -Plan  of  Lake  Where 

Fish  Abide  When  Feeding     ....       90 

WHERE  ARE  THE  BEST  PLACES  TO  FISH  ? — DIFFERENT 
FOODS  IN  DIFFERENT  PLACES — BASS  AND  PIKE — ^MIN- 
NOW CASTING — OTHER  BAITS — PERIODS  OF  INACTIVE 
FEEDING. 

IX.    Game-Fish  that  Leap  Above  the  Surface 

ON  A  Restraining  Line 102 

FIFTEEN  VARIETIES  IN  AMERICAN  WATERS — LEAPING 
IN  PLAY — TO  CATCH  INSECTS — SOURCE  OF  EXCITE- 
MENT TO  THE  ANGLER — FIGHTING  FISH THE  GRAY- 
LING  THE  FURY  OF  THE  BASS — THE  SALMON. 

X.    Tribulations  of  the  Live-Bait  Anglers  .     115 

FAT  MEN  AND  WICKED  BOYS — EXPENSE — DIFFICUL- 
TIES   OF    CAPTURING    FROGS DIGGING    LAMPREYS — 

MINNOWS  AS  DIFFICULT  TO  CATCH  AS  BASS — THE 
BRANDY   TREATMENT. 


CONTENTS  xiii 


CHAPTER  PAOB 

XI.     Description  of  Some  New  Ideas  for  Float- 
ing Nature  Lures 127 

advantages  of  floating  baits — minnows — red 

AND  GOLD — BLUE  AND  SILVER THE  DARTER — ADVAN- 
TAGES   OF    SMALL    MINNOWS — FROGS — BULLHEADS 

CRAWFISH — BASS — HELLGRAMMITE  —  WINGED  HELL- 
GRAMMITE — CATERPILLARS. 

XII.    How  TO  Use  Nature  Lures  by  a  New  Ad- 
vanced Method 142 

fairness  to  the  fish — exact  imitations — casting 

— RIVER  FISHING — ^MANIPULATION  OF  THE   ROD  TIP 

BOTTOM  FISHING — INDIVIDUAL  METHODS  BY  INDIVID- 
UAL ANGLERS — THE  PROPER  OUTFIT  FOR  TROUT  FISH- 
ING. 

XIII.  Advice  to  Anglers  on  How  to  Make  Their 

Own  Nature  Lures 161 

THE  ART  OF  FISHING  A  FASCINATING  STUDY — ^MATE- 
RIALS REQUIRED — BASIC   CONSTRUCTION   OF  LURES 

THE  FROG — THE  CRAWFISH CRICKET,  GRASSHOPPER, 

HELLGRAMMITE — MINNOWS. 

XIV.  Notes  on  the  Breeding  and  Planting  op 

Game-Fish  Food  by  Private  and  State 
Hatcheries 172 

by  private  and  state  hatcheries — necessity  of 
abundance  of  food — ^more  important  than 
stocking  with  game-fish — ^necessity  of  the  an- 

GLER's  vital  INTEREST  IN  ENCOURAGING  GROWTH 
OF  GAME-FISH — STOP   OVERSTOCKING. 

XV.    Why  Present-Day  Artificials  are  Ineffect- 
ive  AND    Not    Popular   with    Expert 

Anglers 178 

not    popular    with    expert    anglers — rubber 

"frights'* — ^ARTIFICIAL  BAITS  THAT  DO  NOT  RESEM- 
BLE THE  REAL — BUGS — SPIRITUAL  EFFECTS  OF  AN- 
GLING. 

Index 185 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

When  the  pussy-willows  bloom Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Adult  brown  trout  feeding  on  minnows     .          Facing  page  10 

Minnows  and  young  of  other  fish  that  game-fishes  consume 

as  food B'acing  page  20 

Rainbow-trout Facing  page  26 

Various   creatures   that   game-fish   eat    (drawn   from   living 

specimens) Facing  page  34 

Trout  food  from  creeper  to  insect 49 

How  trout  take  underwater-creeper  baits 50 

Small-mouth  black  bass Facing  page  60 

Plan  of  current  formations  in  a  winding  stream — the  haunts 

trout  choose  to  lie  in  in  wait  for  passing  food  ....  83 

Lake  plan  to  show  where  bass  and  pike  take  their  natural  food  93 

Muskellunge  feeding  on  minnows       ....     Facing  page  100 

Atlantic  salmon Facing  page  104 

Lawrence  spotted  muskellunge Facing  page  108 

Landlocked  salmon ,  .    Facing  page  112 

How  live  frogs  should  float 123 

How  live  frogs  usually  float 123 

Floating  artificial  nature  minnows     ....     Facing  page  130 

Floating    artificial    nature    lures    made    from    living    speci- 
mens       Facing  page  136 

The  rise-to-surface  lures  and  return 148 

Lure  fishing  in  deep  water 151 

New  tiny  gold  and  silver  body  fly  minnows  for  trout  and  bass  154 

XV 


INTRODUCTORY 

ENCOURAGING  THE  GROWTH  AND 
ABUNDANCE  OF  GAME-FISH 

In  aquatic  life  the  battle  for  existence  and  the 
survival  of  the  strong  are  convincingly  proved. 
It  is  very  fortunate  that  the  larger  game-fishes 
continually  take  a  big  toll  of  the  young  of  unde- 
sirable coarse  fishes,  like  suckers,  catfish,  eels, 
chub,  dace,  perch,  and  some  of  the  larger  species 
of  minnows,  most  of  which  feed  and  devour  a 
great  quantity  of  game-fish  egg  spawn.  While 
nature  rights  itself  in  the  long  run,  it  is  wise  to 
assist  her  to  further  development  in  the  abun- 
dance and  size  of  all  edible  game-fish,  especially 
so  that  each  and  every  one  of  the  species  are  of 
unusual  economic  food  value,  the  choicest  being 


lOQ^ 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


the  gamiest,  from  the  salmon  and  trout  down  the 
Hne.  In  this  valuable  assistance,  anglers  can  do  their 
part  in  more  than  one  way;  first  by  refraining 
from  the  use  of  live  bait,  allowing  it  to  remain 
to  foster  game-fish  growth,  and  by  using  in  its 
place  various  artificial  baits,  either  of  their  own 
make  or  procured  from  others.  Nearly  every  State 
in  the  Union,  east  or  west,  maintains  competent 
fish  commissions  and  hatcheries  to  breed  game- 
fish  for  planting  in  their  own  waters.  They  can, 
I  think,  help  their  States  to  a  much  greater  degree 
by  more  feeding  rather  than  by  breeding.  The 
poultryman  does  not  stop  at  the  incubator,  turn- 
ing loose  the  tender  chicks  to  forage  anyhow  for 
themselves;  he  provides  food  to  fatten  up  and 
make  them  grow.  There  is  no  reason  whatever 
why  all  barren  streams  and  lakes  in  America 
should  not  be  well  supplied  with  ample  natural 
food  to  sustain  many  times  the  quantity  of  edible 
game-fish  now  available,  if  scientific  methods 
were  in  vogue. 

It  requires  no  genius  to  know  that  birds,  animals, 
and  fishes  live  to  eat;  the  latter  more  than  any. 
Fish  always  congregate  thickest  in  any  water 
where  food  is  most  abundant,  and  the  more  food 
of  any  sort  they  eat,  the  more  rapid  their  growth 


INTRODUCTORY 


and  numbers.  Give  them  ample  food;  they  can- 
not help  but  breed  and  multiply  to  a  much  greater 
extent  than  by  means  of  artificial  culture.  I  am 
given  to  understand  by  those  who  are  competent 
to  judge  that  the  natural  food  for  game-fishes  is 
far  more  abundant  in  waters  flowing  to  the  Pacific, 
also  in  the  Middle  Western  waters,  feeding  or  fed 
by  the  Great  Lakes,  than  in  rivers  on  the  Eastern 
seaboard.  This,  if  true,  accounts  for  the  much 
larger  size  attained  in  the  West  in  different  species 
of  trout,  bass,  and  pike. 

A  six-pound  rainbow  from  Eastern  waters  is  con- 
sidered a  giant.  One  of  sixteen  pounds  is  of  com- 
mon occurrence  in  Montana.  The  rainbows  there 
feed  on  a  giant  winged  hellgrammite  and  large  bull- 
heads; even  the  insects  are  of  unusual  size.  While 
the  Eastern  rainbow  is  crammed  with  tiny  insects, 
which  is  the  only  available  food,  they  would  soon 
get  the  large-size  food  if  it  were  at  hand  to  devour. 
When  nature  does  see  fit  to  provide  with  unusual 
lavishness,  we  find  the  Eastern  rainbow  takes  its 
full  share  to  suffocation,  and  it  is  shown  in  other 
species  during  the  annual  shad-fly  glut,  which 
occurs  during  May.  In  our  large  Eastern  trout 
rivers  the  minnow  family  are  wofully  scarce; 
indeed  the  same  is  true  of  other  food -fish.  I  am 


y 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


convinced  from  my  experience  and  that  of  others, 
that  both  the  brown  trout  and  rainbow  are  much 
more  gamy  in  Eastern  than  in  Western  waters. 
This  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  Eastern 
fish  must  hunt  more  dihgently  for  their  food,  mak- 
ing them  more  active,  adroit,  and  cunning. 

One  of  the  most  distressing  things  about  angling, 
everywhere,  is  the  large  number  of  young  trout 
caught  under  size,  both  by  accident  and  design, 
which  is  due  to  the  extreme  voracity  of  all  species 
of  trout.  When  young  they  are  reckless  in  the 
extreme,  going  for  the  fly  or  lure  with  such  dash 
and  vim  as  to  often  make  impossible  their  return 
to  the  water  without  injury.  With  plenty  of  food 
it  would  not  be  so,  and  it  is  a  crime  to  kill  a  trout 
of  any  species  under  ten  inches  long,  because  they 
grow  so  fast  that  an  eight-inch  trout  nearly 
doubles  its  size  in  a  year  under  normal  food- 
supply.  For  that  one  reason  alone  worm  fishing 
in  brooks  where  food  is  always  scarce  should  be 
forbidden,  especially  if  such  brooks  be  stocked 
by  the  State.  Indeed  all  places  where  fish  are 
planted  should  not  be  fished  at  all  for  the  reason 
that  a  young  brown  trout  only  four  inches  long 
will  rise  to  a  small  worm  or  fly  in  the  most  au- 
dacious manner  in  precisely  the  same  way  his 


INTRODUCTORY 


granddaddy  does.  I  agree,  in  such  cases  the  con- 
scientious angler  is  helpless,  and  the  only  thing 
possible  is  to  unhook  the  foolish  youngster  as 
carefully  as  possible  and  return  it  to  the  water 
uninjured.  It  would  be  hard  to  judge  how  many 
times  a  trout  gets  hooked  and  escapes  during  its 
short  life,  but  we  do  know  that  if  he  is  captured 
at  seventeen  inches  instead  of  seven,  the  differ- 
ence is,  unquestionably,  advantageous  to  the  ang- 
ler. We  are  all  naturally  very  proud  to  capture 
the  big  fellows;  the  satisfaction  is  greater  because 
the  battle  is  more  even.  Adroit  cunning  against 
our  skill — ^and  to  encounter  such  battles  often, 
the  angler  must  curb  his  insatiate  desire  for  large 
numbers  by  returning  to  the  water  all  but  the 
larger  fish,  that  they  may  grow  for  him,  or  for  the 
other  angler,  to  capture  at  a  later  date.  This  is  one 
important  way  to  encourage  the  growth  of  fish.  If 
every  angler  would  do  so,  in  time  conditions  would 
be  such  that  all  could  capture  fish  of  a  decent 
size  that  would  furnish  far  better  sport.  I  never 
met  or  heard  of  a  fisherman  having  captured  one 
or  more  large  fish  but  who  was,  with  pardonable 
pride,  most  anxious  to  talk  about  them  or  show 
them  to  friend  or  stranger. 
The  larger  fish  should  be  most  ardently  sought 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


after,  for  it  is  a  most  undesirable  condition  to 
have  lakes  or  streams  contain  many  large  fish 
of  cannibalistic  traits  that  deplete  the  waters 
they  occupy  of  an  astonishing  number  of  smaller 
fish  of  their  own  kind  and  others.  If  anglers  only 
capture  the  smaller  sizes,  and  the  big  fish  eat  them 
as  well,  the  chances  are  very  poor  for  the  stream 
or  lake  to  be  supplied  with  fish  suflSciently  large 
to  make  fishing  worth  while  as  time  goes  on.  It 
is  quite  true  the  bigger  the  fish  the  harder  it  is 
to  capture;  for  that  very  reason  we  should  push 
our  efforts  more  in  the  direction  of  finding  out 
just  what  are  the  best  methods  and  lures  to  get 
them.  In  that  way  we  solve  another  problem  of 
how  to  encourage  a  greater  abundance  of  fish. 

In  short,  this  opening  chapter  begins  with  an 
earnest  plea  to  persuade  every  angler  in  this  broad 
land,  first  to  force  upon  himself  a  stern  self-sacri- 
ficing abstinence  from  the  capture  of  small-sized 
fish,  and  secondly,  to  make  every  effort  to  induce 
others  to  do  likewise.  This  is  of  the  most  vital  im- 
portance, for,  in  the  short  space  of  two  years, 
each  angler  will  reap  the  benefit,  as  the  result  of 
larger  growth  will  be  astounding  and  satisfying 
beyond  all  measure.  I  have  often  thought,  if  it 
could  only  be  possible  to  stop  all  angling  for  just 


INTRODUCTORY 


one  season,  what  a  vast  change  there  would  be 
in  our  captures  the  next  year.  It  would  double  the 
size  and  quantity  of  fish  taken,  and  that  of  our 
pleasure  likewise.  To  abstain  from  the  capture 
of  small  fish,  while  not  enough,  is  all  we  can  ex- 
pect from  the  angler.  Much  more  is  required  from 
others,  in  conserving,  breeding,  planting,  and 
transferring  every  kind  of  available  fish-food  in 
the  most  desirable  places,  viz.:  where  fish  happen 
to  be  most  abundant  and  food  scarce.  Anglers 
can  help  along  this  work,  also,  by  filling  their 
pockets  with  grasshoppers,  crickets,  caddis,  bot- 
tom creepers,  garden-worms — in  fact  every  kind 
of  food — and  by  dumping  it  in  the  water,  where 
it  will  find  ever-ready  mouths  to  feed.  Even  should 
the  food  not  be  taken  by  game-fish  it  is  sure  to 
feed  some  creature  game-fish  eat,  for,  in  the  round 
circle  of  nature's  work,  even  garbage  feeds  worms, 
fish  eat  worms,  we  eat  fish,  and,  in  the  course  of 
time,  worms  eat  us. 

In  addition  to  stopping  the  slaughter  of  young 
and  undersized  fish  we  must  go  still  further  by 
not  robbing  game-fish  of  their  food  to  use  as  bait 
to  capture  them.  There  are  many  advantages  to 
be  gained  by  doing  so,  and  we  lose  nothing  by  it. 
In  later  chapters  many  good  and  sufficient  reasons 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


are  given  why  anglers  will  benefit;  in  fact  through- 
out this  entire  volume  the  subject  is  treated  from 
every  view-point,  as  I  have  known  it  for  many 
years.  We  not  only  encourage  the  growth  of  fish 
by  making  our  own  artificial  flies  and  lures,  but 
of  our  own  effort  we  transform  the  present  cruel 
method  of  live-bait  fishing,  which  is  dirty  and 
disagreeable,  into  a  cleanly,  scientific  method  that 
is  far  more  effective,  artistic,  and  satisfying  in 
every  way. 

If  we  fail  now  to  make  every  effort  to  encour- 
age the  growth  of  game-fishes,  and  still  continue 
with  a  determined  resolve  to  ignore  future  con- 
ditions, and  if  new  members  of  the  angling  fra- 
ternity start  in  to  act  in  a  like  manner,  after  a 
few  more  years  we  shall  face  a  situation  when 
it  will  be  too  late  to  recuperate — our  goose  will 
be  dead — ^and  the  golden  eggs  we  took  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course  will  be  out  of  reach.  The  splendid, 
free,  open  fishing  will  be  absorbed  by  private 
individuals  and  clubs  in  control  of  posted  waters. 
These  clubs  do  now,  and  will  in  future,  restrict 
the  number  of  fish  to  be  caught  more  than  ever. 
Then  the  angler  of  limited  means  will  ask  why 
he  cannot  get  the  sport  his  forebears  did,  with  all 
the  fostering  care  the  State  provided.  Many  an 


INTRODUCTORY 


angler  will  say,  "what's  the  use  of  me  putting 
small  fish  back  when  I  see  lots  of  others  catching 
them?"  Then  is  the  right  time  for  propaganda, 
persuasion,  and  advice  to  those  who  need  it — 
small  beginnings  in  the  end  find  great  things. 

In  a  nutshell,  the  point  is  this:  We  take  our 
vacation,  supply  ourselves  with  a  fair  stock  of 
artificial  flies  and  lures,  arrive  at  our  destination, 
and  have  no  delay  or  worry  of  buying  or  digging 
baits.  We  fish  with  a  method  safe  to  catch  in  a 
humane  and  sane  manner,  and  enjoy  a  greater 
personal  triumph  in  fishing  a  higher  style  with 
far  better  results  than  before. 

The  last,  though  not  the  least  important,  sug- 
gestion to  encourage  the  growth  of  fishes  is  that 
each  and  every  angler  bestir  himself  to  form  as- 
sociations or  committees  to  have  the  laws  revised 
concerning  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  trout 
season  of  every  State  on  a  wise  and  rational  basis. 
I  am  not  familiar  enough  with  conditions  to  speak 
with  personal  knowledge  of  the  Middle  West  and 
far  Western  States,  but  I  do  know  by  experience 
of  the  harm  being  done  in  the  States  of  the  East- 
ern seaboard,  particularly  New  York  State,  which 
I  use  as  an  example.  It  is  very  diflScult  to  find 
out  who  is  responsible  for  making  the  date  of 


10  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

opening  and  closing  season  as  it  now  stands. 
Whether  it  be  pohticians  or  the  conservation 
officials,  they  seem  to  have  done  their  very  ut- 
most to  inconvenience  the  angler  and  destroy 
the  trout.  The  best  natural  trout  streams  in  the 
State  are  located  in  the  higher  altitudes  of  the 
Catskills  and  Adirondack  mountains,  where  the 
temperature  remains  low,  with  ice  and  snow  water 
still  running  up  to  the  end  of  April,  and  often 
later.  Till  that  cold  water  is  run  off,  all  fish  food, 
minnows,  bottom  creepers,  and  insects  are  still 
dormant.  The  river  is  void  of  life,  and  is  nearly 
always  a  raging  flood.  After  the  long  winter's  rest 
from  fishing,  most  anglers  naturally  await  the 
opening  day  with  impatience,  and,  without  real- 
izing what  adverse  conditions  will  greet  them, 
take  their  first  trip  only  to  find  their  lines  freeze 
to  the  rod-tip — ^no  trout  responding  to  their  flies; 
no  insects  in  flight  except  a  few  small  species  on 
warm  days,  which  are  rare. 
A  member  of  New  York's  most  exclusive  fish- 
ing club  told  me  that  the  opening  day  in  1919, 
after  a  very  mild  winter,  was  bitter  cold.  A  heavy 
snow-storm  made  him  very  uncomfortable  while 
wading  the  stream,  located  at  a  low  altitude  in 
New  Jersey.  He  went  on  to  say,  "fly-fishing  was 


Adult  brown  trout  feeding  on  minnows 


INTRODUCTORY  11 


out  of  the  question;  my  fingers  froze  to  the  rod 
handle  and  the  line  fast  to  the  tip;  so  I  had  to 
turn  to  the  'inevitable  worm' — even  that  was  a 
miserable  failure.  There  won't  be  good  fishing 
for  a  month."  The  first  of  May  is  plenty  early 
enough  for  the  opening  of  the  trout  season  in  the 
States  of  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Connecticut.  A  far  worse  condition  is  present 
at  the  closing  date  of  the  season,  which  needs 
immediate  attention  and  revision. 

Quoting  from  an  angler's  letter,  written  August 
2,  I  read:  "The  river  (Beaver  Kill)  seems  now  to 
contain  as  many  fish  as  in  the  spring.  I  caught 
four  last  evening,  two  fourteen  and  two  sixteen 
inches  long.  Three  were  females,  and  I  thought 
it  a  crying  shame  to  take  trout  so  late  now  they 
are  full  of  eggs''  Whoever  framed  the  law  to  close 
the  season  on  the  the  last  day  of  August  must 
be  entirely  ignorant  of  what  is  best  for  the  fish 
and  fair  to  the  angler.  The  season  should  close 
on  the  last  day  of  July;  which  would  give  three 
months  open  season  instead  of  five  months,  which 
it  is  at  present.  Those  anglers  who  can  only  take 
their  fishing  in  the  late  summer  or  fall  will  find 
in  the  bass  just  as  good  sport,  if  not  better,  be- 
cause trout  fishing  in  August  is  only  good  when     v 


12  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

the  water  is  high,  which  happens  on  very  rare 
occasions. 

To  briefly  summarize  this  chapter  on  how  to 
get  more  and  larger  fish  for  the  angler's  better 
enjoyment  of  his  sport — first:  Refrain  from  the 
use  of  live  bait,  which,  if  left,  will  foster  game- 
fish  growth.  Second:  Stop  the  capture  of  under- 
sized fish  by  not  fishing  in  brooks  where  they 
abound  and  by  using  a  method  to  which  they 
will  not  respond.  Third:  Agitate  for  the  revision 
and  shortening  of  the  trout-fishing  season. 

If  each  angler  will  make  a  personal  effort  in  push- 
ing these  three  reforms  into  working  order,  he 
will  be  not  only  astonished  but  gratified  at  the 
result,  that  will  be  evident  in  a  season  or  two,  of 
the  wonderful  growth  and  abundance  of  game- 
fishes. 

In  Chapter  IX  a  brief  reference  is  made  to  the 
advisability  of  propagating  and  transplanting  the 
Montana  grayling  to  Middle  Western  and  Eastern 
States.  At  the  present  time,  for  some  cause  or 
other,  the  grayling  is  almost  extinct.  There  are 
many  reasons  why  this  excellent  game-fish  should 
become  abundant  in  every  State  that  has  natural 
trout  streams.  The  first  reason  is,  this  fish  is  every 
bit  as  gamy  as  the  trout.  It  rises  to  artificial  flies 


INTRODUCTORY  13 


With  the  same  vigor.  Its  economic  food  value  is 
equal,  and,  best  of  all,  the  open  season  for  gray- 
ling fishing  would  have  to  begin  about  the  time 
the  trout  season  ends,  filling  a  void  of  fly  fishing 
in  the  delightful  Indian -summer  days,  from  Sep- 
tember to  the  end  of  December,  when  frost  really 
begins  in  the  temperate  zone.  The  fisherman 
whose  vacation  happens  during  the  fall  months 
would  get  most  agreeable  sport.  For  what  reason 
do  Eastern  State  culturists  ignore  this  fine  fish? 
If  there  are  difficulties,  why  not  endeavor  to  over- 
come them.f^  I  know  hundreds  of  trout  streams  in 
different  Eastern  States  where  grayling  would 
be  sure  to  thrive,  and  would  very  soon  afford 
splendid  autumn  sport  for  anglers.  The  trouble 
is  (without  personal  reference  to  any  particular 
State),  fish  culturists  seem  contented  to  trot  along 
in  the  rut  their  predecessors  have  made;  self- 
satisfied  if  they  pile  up  vast  quantities  of  trout, 
half  of  which  by  judicious  planting  would  suffice; 
if  the  expense  and  labor  necessary  for  the  other 
half  were  devoted  to  the  culture  of  food  for  them. 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  MINNOWS  AND  THEIR 
ALLIES  FOR  GAME-FISH  FOOD 

Making  a  wide,  though  general,  survey  of  what 
game-fish  consume  as  food,  it  is  certain  the  varied 
members  of  the  trout,  bass,  and  pike  famiHes 
subsist  almost  entirely  on  a  fish  diet,  principally 
on  the  large  family  of  minnows,  the  young  of  their 
own  kind,  and  other  species  of  fish.  Were  it  pos- 
sible that  every  species  of  these  three  game-fish 
families  could  be  restrained  from  cannibalism, 
they  would  soon  multiply  so  rapidly  as  to  glut 
the  waters  in  which  they  abide  and  utterly  de- 
stroy all  fish  life  that  nature  provides  as  food  for 
them.  Cannibalism  induces  that  trait  we  call 
"gamy"  by  necessitating  a  lifelong  battle  of  exist- 

14 


MINNOWS  FOR  GAME-FISH  FOOD  15 

ence,  both  among  their  own  and  other  species. 
In  the  restricted  space  of  a  pond  or  lake,  bull- 
heads increase  so  rapidly  that  they  soon  devour 
every  vestige  of  food  where  they  abide,  and  then 
at  once  proceed  to  devour  each  other.  This  same 
condition  prevails  with  the  muskellunge,  pike, 
and  pickerel  famiHes.  If  a  plentiful  supply  of  fish 
food  is  not  available,  the  bass  and  trout  famiUes 
also  feed  on  the  very  young  of  their  own  kind. 
It  is  claimed  by  some  that  the  brook-trout  is  an 
exception,  but  I  have  had  several  proofs  that, 
after  it  attains  a  weight  of  over  two  pounds,  it 
makes  no  distinction  between  the  young  of  its 
own  kind  and  the  young  of  perch  or  sucker.  We 
find  this  cannibalistic  trait  even  among  some 
species  of  minnows  where  the  adult  fish  measures 
no  more  than  two  inches  long.  Thus  it  is,  from 
the  minnow  to  the  salmon,  fresh- water  fishes  prey 
unceasingly  upon  each  other  just  as  salt-water 
fishes  do  in  the  ocean. 
In  a  document  *  issued  by  the  bureau  of  fisheries, 
several  facts  are  given  that  may  be  of  interest  to 
anglers  on  the  various  species  of  minnows  useful 
in  destroying  the  eggs  and  larvae  of  mosquitoes 
in  the  stagnant  water  where  they  breed.  Of  the 

*  No.  857. 


16  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

large  variety  of  minnows  there  are  four  of  more 
than  ordinary  value  as  game-fish  food :  The  family 
of  top-minnows,  which  take  their  food  mostly  at 
the  surface  of  sluggish  ponds,  creeks,  canals,  and 
slow-running  rivers.  The  mud-minnows  are  bot- 
tom feeders,  though  at  times  they  rise  to  the  sur- 
face snapping  at  low-flying  insects.  The  family 
of  sunfishes  are  the  most  abundant,  having  a  wide 
range  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf.  The  family  of 
silversides  are  the  most  delicate  species  of  all  min- 
nows, being  most  attractive  in  appearance  for  use 
as  bait,  but  very  difficult  to  transport  from  their 
habitat. 

From  the  scant  information  I  have  gathered,  it 
seems  that  the  minnow  family  has  been  much 
neglected  by  scientific  writers,  fish  culturists 
and  others.  Each  State  should  include  the  breed- 
ing and  planting  of  these  most  valuable  fish,  not 
only  as  food,  but  for  their  value  as  eradicators  of 
mosquitoes,  which  makes  them  of  the  greatest 
economic  importance  where  mosquitoes  are  a 
pest.  If  it  be  not  feasible  for  State  hatcheries  to 
propagate  minnows,  nearly  all  of  the  different 
families  are  easily  transported  from  their  nat- 
ural breeding  places  in  ponds,  reservoirs,  lakes, 
rivers,    and    even    ditches.    After    being    trans- 


MINNOWS  FOR  GAME-FISH  FOOD  17 

planted  they  at  once  make  themselves  at  home  in 
a  new  environment  and  very  soon  begin  to  breed, 
even  if  the  temperature  and  water  is  different 
from  their  natural  habitat.  Some  species  are 
viviparous  and  sometimes  produce  six  broods  of 
young  in  one  season.  If  hungry,  the  mother  de- 
vours her  own  young  as  rapidly  as  they  are  born. 
The  young  at  the  time  of  birth,  while  very  small, 
are  vigorous,  coming  into  the  world  with  an 
appetite  well  prepared  to  enter  upon  an  indepen- 
dent career,  and  soon  make  rapid  growth;  indeed 
such  is  the  extreme  prolificness  of  some  species 
that  they  begin  to  breed  before  they  are  four 
months  old. 

These  few  of  the  many  interesting  facts  that 
could  be  quoted  are  enough  to  show  that  either 
indifference  or  ignorance  is  the  only  reason  why 
many  game-fish  waters  are  almost  entirely  void 
of  this  valuable  species  of  fish  food.  Minnows 
may  be  easily  collected  in  their  favorite  haunts 
of  small  brooks  and  ditches  with  small,  fine- 
meshed  seines,  then  transferred  to  10-gallon  milk 
cans,  by  which  means  they  could  be  shipped  and 
introduced  into  the  lakes  and  streams  where  game- 
fish  are  most  abundant.  In  lakes  and  rivers  of 
large   extent,    where   big   fish,    like   muskellunge 


18  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

and  lake  trout,  abide,  the  supply  of  food  is  never 
overabundant,  and  the  introduction  of  entirely 
different  species  of  fish  food  is  of  the  greatest 
value,  whether  the  adult  species  be  small  or  grow 
to  a  fair  size.  All  assist  directly  or  indirectly  to 
make  game-fish  more  plentiful.  Wherever  trout 
or  other  game-fish  feed  upon  one  species  alone — 
as  instanced  in  another  chapter  of  trout-eating 
young  sunfish  exclusively — it  is  not  so  desirable 
either  for  fish  or  angler,  because  it  induces  trout 
to  congregate  in  restricted  localities  hard  for  the 
angler  to  find,  and  doubtless  from  the  standpoint 
of  eating  not  so  good  as  a  varied  diet.  In  most 
lakes  the  young  of  perch,  dace,  and  chub  furnish 
the  chief  food  for  pickerel  and  pike  if  the  young 
of  their  own  kind  are  not  overplentiful,  but  in 
later  years  their  growth  has  been  limited.  Large 
fish  are  quite  scarce,  for  the  average  caught  are 
small  compared  with  what  were  captured  years 
ago,  when  three-pound  pickerel  and  ten-pound 
pike  were  common.  If  fish  do  arrive  at  an  adult 
state,  anglers  do  not  seem  to  be  skilful  enough 
to  get  them,  as  we  hear  of  many  being  picked  up 
dead,  having  died  of  old  age  or  disease.  Like  men, 
these  very  old  fish  are  not  voracious.  They  feed 
little;  long  intervals  elapse  between  meals.  When 


MINNOWS  FOR  GAME-FISH  FOOD  19 

they  do  take  a  notion  to  eat,  they  invariably  de- 
vour a  large  fish,  almost  their  own  size;  gorge  it 
slowly,  and  then  rest  sometimes  for  many  weeks. 
This  trait  in  the  pike  family  is  not  apparent  in 
the  trout,  which  are  continuously  hungry,  feeding 
all  the  time  on  what  food  is  available.  Indeed  of 
the  many  large  fish  I  have  opened  it  is  quite  rare 
to  find  food  in  their  stomachs  when  captured  at 
evening. 

In  many  lakes  and  streams,  by  some  means  or 
other,  different  species  of  fish  have  been  planted 
that  in  the  past  have  been  considered  detrimental 
to  each  other;  such  as  brown  trout  with  brook- 
trout,  or  bass  with  any  species  of  trout.  So  far  as 
my  observation  goes,  I  find  it  makes  very  little 
or  no  difference  in  the  survival  of  one  or  the  other 
so  far  as  antagonism  goes.  But  it  makes  a  vast 
difference  if  each  separate  species  is  planted  in 
the  proper  environment,  and  where  suitable  food 
is  available  to  it.  If  so,  they  are  sure  to  prosper 
and  multiply.  Trout  love  aerated  parts  of  rivers; 
bass  prefer  deep,  placid  pools,  where  bottom  food 
is  easily  available  to  them,  with  periodical  trips 
to  the  shallows  after  minnows.  If  adult  trout  and 
bass  meet,  the  advantage  in  combat,  should  they 
desire  such,  is  with  the  trout,  for  the  back  spine 


20  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

of  a  bass  is  no  match  against  the  array  of  large 
teeth  with  which  all  trout  are  well  supplied.  The 
teeth  of  bass  are  no  more  formidable  than  if  they 
had  rough  sandpaper  on  the  edge  of  their  jaws. 

The  varied  selection  of  minnows  shown  in  the 
colored  plate  are  indigenous  to  the  entire  northern 
continent  of  America.  They  are  but  a  small  por- 
tion of  those  available  for  planting  or  breeding 
purposes.  In  the  Great  Lakes,  especially  Lake 
Erie,  minnows  and  other  natural  fish  food  is  ample 
and  suflScient,  indeed  they  are  so  plentiful  that 
large  supplies  could  be  withdrawn  for  planting 
elsewhere.  It  is  the  smaller,  much  fished  lakes 
and  streams  that  need  the  earliest  attention.  To 
continually  capture  small  fish  from  recently  stocked 
water,  where  food  is  scarce,  is  the  height  of  folly, 
and  vain  efforts  to  mend  matters  by  continued 
restocking  has  little  or  no  results.  If  we  feed  the 
young  fish,  they  will  grow  and  restock  themselves. 
The  situation  is  apparently  so  simple  and  plain 
that  fish  culturists  either  do  not  study  it,  or  are 
hampered  to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  helpless.  They 
must  be  aware  that  seventy-five  per  cent  of  streams 
and  lakes  are  of  no  service  to  the  community, 
being  almost  entirely  barren  of  edible  fishes.  The 
question  will  be  asked,  "Why  is  it  so,  and  what 


MINNOWS  FOR  GAME-FISH  FOOD  21 

is  the  remedy?"  The  reason  and  remedy  is  lack 
of  food.  Provide  it  and  plant  it.  Then  edible  fish 
will  thrive.  There  is  no  water  on  the  face  of  this 
broad  continent,  of  high  or  low  temperature,  run- 
ning or  still,  muddy  or  clear,  but  what  will  breed 
some  species  of  food-fish  of  great  value  to  the 
people  at  large,  from  eels,  catfish,  carp,  perch, 
sunfish,  pickerel  to  bass,  trout,  and  salmon.  Min- 
nows are  far  more  prolific  and  abundant  in  the 
South  than  they  are  in  the  North,  which  is  due 
to  climatic  conditions  that  allow  breeding  through- 
out the  year  where  they  may  be  found  plentiful 
in  small  muddy  ditches  of  water  at  a  high  tem- 
perature. 

In  the  North  conditions  are  not  so  favorable 
because  they  lie  dormant  in  the  mud  during  severe 
cold.  In  the  Catskill  region,  while  waiting  for 
snow  and  ice  water  to  run  off,  I  can  judge  to  a 
day  when  the  brown  trout  begin  to  rise  by  the 
appearance  of  minnows  and  redfins  as  forerunners 
of  them.  Before  snow-water  runs  off,  the  stream 
side  is  absolutely  bare  of  fish  and  insect  life.  The 
average  date  when  they  appear  is  the  3d  to 
the  7th  of  May. 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  describe  how  to  breed 
minnows  in  captivity.  It  has  been  and  is  being 


^ 


9,% 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


successfully  done  at  the  Beaufort  Hatchery,  North 
Carolina,  and  in  other  places,  according  to  the 
bulletin  previously  mentioned.  Aside  from  breed- 
ing, if  intelligent  efforts  are  made  in  the  transfer 
of  minnows  from  places  where  they  do  breed  that 
are  devoid  of  game-fish,  to  where  those  fish  need 
them,  the  result  will  be  found  to  be  very  advan- 
tageous at  far  less  cost  than  propagating  game- 
fish  fry,  the  greater  part  of  which  goes  to  feed 
adult  fish  of  some  kind  or  other. 


II 


CHARACTERISTIC  HABITS  OF  VARIOUS   SUR- 
FACE AND  BOTTOM  CREATURES 
THAT  GAME-FISH  EAT 


THEIR   RELATIVE   VALUE   AS   BAITS 

The  different  creatures  here  mentioned  I  think 
best  to  describe  in  a  separate  chapter  from  the 
minnows  in  order  to  fit  in  with  the  illustrations. 
It  is  a  remarkable  and  perhaps  a  wise  provision 
of  nature  that  not  one  of  the  creatures  that  game- 
fishes  comsume  as  food  is  considered  fit  for  human 
beings  to  eat.  All  of  them  live  and  breed  in  or 
adjacent  to  the  water,  and  while  limited  in  num- 
ber, they  are  remarkably  diverse  in  their  char- 
acteristic habits.  I  give  here  a  few  notes — ^along 
with  colored  pictures — ^to  briefly  describe  them, 

23 


24  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

which  I  hope  will  be  suflficient  to  furnish  those 
unfamiliar  with  them  some  idea  of  what  they 
are,  and  how  they  live  and  act  in  their  natural 
state,  in  order  to  assist  the  angler  to  an  intelligent 
and  effective  use  of  the  artificial  imitations.  These 
if  played  properly  and  with  an  understanding  of 
the  habits  of  the  real  creatures  will  give  the  angler 
a  peculiarly  gratifying  reward;  they  will  induce 
a  thoughtful  study  of  the  best  manoeuvres  for 
seducing  the  fish,  and  will  enable  him  with  a  little 
practice  to  catch  the  big  ones.  The  most  con- 
spicuous thing  which  induces  game-fish  to  grab 
live  bait  on  the  hook  is  the  habit  of  a  wriggling 
movement  while  in  the  water,  actively  trying  to 
get  free  from  the  hook. 

THE   HELLGRAMMITE 

The  most  active  and  prolonged  wriggler  of  all 
live  baits  is  the  hellgrammite,  an  exceedingly 
effective  bass  bait.  Because  of  the  extreme  tough- 
ness of  the  larva,  its  constant  wriggle  and  con- 
tinued life  after  being  hooked,  it  is  much  sought 
by  the  angler.  Large  perch  and  chub  cannot  re- 
sist it.  Pickerel  have  been  known  to  take  it,  but 
other  baits  for  that  fish  are  superior.  Wall-eyed 
pike,  big  catfish,  and  eels  will  take  it,  but  trout 


CREATURES  THAT   GAME-FISH  EAT  25 

will  not  touch  it.  I  have  tried  it  in  pools  where 
large  brown  trout  abide  near  where  bass  lie,  and 
the  bass  have  always  responded  to  it. 

The  hellgrammite  is  the  aquatic  larva  of  a  fly, 
the  horned  corydalus  {Cory dolus  cornutus),  some- 
what resembling  and  closely  allied  to  the  dragon- 
fly. It  is  supposed  to  exist  for  several  years  in 
the  larval  state  under  loose  rocks  on  or  just  be- 
low the  water-line  of  rivers  and  other  waters  of 
low  temperature.  Here  its  life  is  spent  in  devour- 
ing other  smaller  insect  larvae,  and  during  this 
period  it  is  most  suitable  for  baiting  purposes. 
But  this  repulsive-looking,  yet  harmless,  creature 
is  used  as  bait  in  all  three  stages  of  its  life.  First 
in  its  larval — creeper  stage;  then  in  the  dormant 
pupa  stage,  and  last  after  the  final  change  into 
the  adult  flying  insect.  The  corydalus  is  a  large, 
fierce-looking  insect  with  four  gauzy  wings  which, 
when  at  rest,  lie  flat  over  the  body,  which  is  a 
cinnamon  color  on  the  belly,  dark  brown  at  the 
sides,  and  dull  black  at  the  head  and  thorax.  It 
begins  its  flight  after  dusk  and,  like  the  creeper, 
is  entirely  nocturnal  in  its  habits.  I  have  never 
seen  it  in  flight  during  the  daytime  in  New  York 
regions.  This  fine,  large  insect  is  very  abundant 
on  Montana  streams,  where  it  is  used  extensively 


26  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

by  anglers  who  hook  them  alive  to  fish  at  the 
surface  for  the  big  rainbows.  These  big  rainbows 
run  up  to  fourteen  pounds'  weight,  and  they  are 
so  adroit  in  nipping  the  insect  from  the  hook  that 
several  experts  requested  me  to  make  an  artificial 
from  specimens  sent  me  in  '*  spirits,"  which  I  did, 
and  named  it  the  ''Winged  Hellgrammite."  Its 
body  measures  over  two  inches  in  length,  the 
wings  extending  half  an  inch  beyond  the  tail, 
and  with  the  two  long  black  horns  at  the  head 
the  entire  insect  measures  three  and  three-quarter 
inches  long. 

The  artificial  hellgrammite  creeper  differs  some- 
what in  having  a  row  of  short-pointed  feelers  along 
each  side  of  the  abdomen.  The  belly  is  grayish 
cream-color,  the  back  dark  brown  with  black 
shiny  head  and  thorax.  The  artificial  of  this  creeper 
has  been  found  exceedingly  good  in  many  swift 
and  still  waters  for  large  or  small-mouth  bass  and 
wall-eye.  A  smaller  and  decidedly  different  species, 
the  artificial  of  which  I  have  named  the  "Trout 
Hellgrammite,"  because  I  found  it  frequently  in 
the  stomachs  of  brook-trout  in  widely  different 
localities,  is  described  in  detail  elsewhere  along 
with  the  other  creepers  that  trout  take  as  food. 
The  hellgrammite  creeper  is  very  easily  captured 


Rainbow-trout 
Salmo  Iridens 


CREATURES  THAT  GAME-FISH  EAT  27 

■I  '     ^     ■  ■ 

and  may  be  kept  a  considerable  time  in  damp 
grass  and  rotten  wood  at  low  temperature. 

THE   CRAWFISH 

In  placing  the  crawfish  second  in  value  as  a  bait, 
I  do  so  because  it  is  equally  effective  in  swift 
streams  and  in  placid  lakes  over  almost  the  entire 
continent  of  North  America.  Indeed  wherever 
bass  abide,  a  live,  medium-sized,  light  brown 
crawfish  is  resistless  in  any  condition  of  weather 
or  season.  This  fresh-water  crustacean  is  very 
prolific  in  all  brooks  and  streams  of  a  low  tem- 
perature, and  frequently  in  lakes.  Its  habit  is 
mostly  nocturnal,  and  it  burrows  holes  in  the 
pebbly  sand  as  a  protection  from  its  enemies. 
Its  abode  can  easily  be  identified  by  the  little 
mound  of  fresh  sand  beside  its  hole,  and  if  we 
are  quick  in  our  movements  we  can  scrape  them 
out  a  few  inches  down,  wait  a  few  minutes  for 
the  water  to  run  clear  and  capture  them.  It  re- 
quires practice  to  do  it  with  success,  for  they  are 
nimbleness  personified,  running  equally  fast  back- 
ward or  forward.  Indeed,  their  capture,  like  any 
other  bait,  is  quite  a  difficult  undertaking,  filling 
up  the  off  days  or  early  hours  when  bass  are  not 
in  a  biting  humor. 


28  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

While  the  crawfish  is  an  expert  swimmer,  it 
rarely  leaves  the  bottom  to  swim  in  mid-water 
or  near  the  surface,  but  crawls  slowly  in  search 
of  food  among  the  stones  and  sand.  It  feeds  mostly 
on  small  fish,  dead  or  alive,  and,  like  marine  crus- 
taceans, is  very  pugnacious,  with  frequent  combats 
among  its  own  kind  or  with  other  creatures  it  hap- 
pens to  meet.  It  is  rarely  seen  by  day,  and  little 
is  really  known  of  its  natural  habits  except  in 
confinement.  As  a  bait,  its  best  qualities  are  the 
lively  kicking  movement  and  hardihood  after 
being  hooked,  and  the  prolonged  time  it  takes 
while  swimming  downward  from  the  surface  after 
the  cast.  Bass  will  dash  after  it  on  its  journey 
down,  and  it  is  generally  perfectly  aware  of  them, 
so,  on  reaching  the  bottom,  it  will  instantly  crawl 
under  a  stone  out  of  reach.  The  amateur  soon 
learns  that  it  is  best  to  keep  this  nimble  bait  swim- 
ming free  from  the  bottom.  It  swims  along  entirely 
with  its  tail,  the  numerous  legs  being  used  only 
to  balance  the  body,  and  it  is  for  that  reason  I 
have,  after  many  trials,  succeeded  in  making  the 
artificial  with  a  disjointed  tail  to  move  up  and 
down  from  the  body,  giving  a  lifelike  appearance 
to  the  lure  if  played  properly  in  working  the  an- 
gler's rod-tip.  In  its  natural  environment  the  craw- 


CREATURES  THAT  GAME-FISH  EAT  29 

fish  grows  rapidly,  casting  its  shell  several  times 
in  one  season.  When  very  young,  it  is  pale  yellow 
in  color,  growing  a  darker  brown  with  age.  For 
my  own  part  I  prefer  this  bait  to  be  light  cinna- 
mon color,  not  over  two  inches  long  with  the  tail 
stretched.  Many  anglers  consider  a  four-inch  dark 
colored  crawfish  is  most  effective  in  either  lake  or 
stream. 

THE   CRICKET 

Next  after  the  crawfish  I  consider  the  cricket 
third  in  value,  because  it  is  eagerly  taken  by  all 
game-fish,  both  in  lake  or  stream.  Its  jumping 
propensities  in  meadows  through  which  meanders 
a  trout  stream,  lead  to  sure  disaster,  for  all  kinds 
of  fish  congregate  in  certain  fruitful  places  to 
await  these  leaps  of  death.  So  soon  as  the  cricket 
alights  on  the  surface,  it  kicks  and  spins  rapidly 
around,  making  its  way  to  shore.  But  its  landing- 
place  is  invariably  down  the  gullet  of  trout  or 
chub;  indeed  any  fish  will  take  it  that  happens 
to  be  in  sight.  If  properly  hooked  it  makes  a  most 
effective  live  bait  by  reason  of  the  continued  rum- 
pus made  at  the  surface.  The  cricket  never  sinks, 
alive  or  dead,  and  especially  in  placid  water  is 
an  easy  prey,  due  to  its  frantic  efforts  to  get 
back  on  land,  which  are  so  very  obvious   that 


30  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

fish  cannot  fail  to  see  them  quite  a  distance 
away. 
Large,  full-grown  specimens  are  not  common 
until  late  in  the  fall  after  the  trout  season  closes, 
and  for  that  reason  they  are  not  so  popular  for 
trout  as  for  bass.  Sometimes  they  come  out  dur- 
ing July.  When  they  do,  I  consider  them  superior 
to  any  other  bait  (except  minnows)  for  brown 
trout  during  the  daytime.  My  artificial  cricket 
made  in  three  different  sizes  of  cork  bodies  was 
highly  successful  with  brown  trout  as  early  as 
June  3,  of  last  year.  This  is  one  of  the  few  instances 
where  the  artificial  is  of  greater  service  than  the 
natural  bait,  as  it  is  also  more  durable,  for  the 
cricket,  when  hooked,  is  very  tender,  and  is  easily 
flipped  off,  besides  being  repeatedly  nipped  from 
the  hook  by  the  fish.  A  very  few  casts  will  find 
this  bait  limp  and  almost  lifeless.  For  trout  fish- 
ing the  smallest  size  is  much  the  best.  Bass  seem 
to  prefer  a  good  big  size,  running  up  to  the  sur- 
face after  it  as  they  do  after  a  fly.  In  Lake  George 
I  caught  bass  on  crickets  in  water  thirty  feet  deep. 
The  most  fruitful  hunting-ground  for  crickets  is 
under  corn  shucks  and  piles  of  decaying  weeds 
or  other  vegetation.  If  the  reader  will  carefully 
examine  the  representation  of  the  artificial  cricket 


CREATURES  THAT  GAME-FISH  EAT  31 

he  will  consider  it,  as  I  do,  the  best  imitation  of 
all  my  nature  lures.  It  looks  still  more  natural 
when  placed  in  the  water.  After  a  little  practice 
the  vibrant  rod-tip  can  be  skilfully  made  to  give 
the  lure  all  the  actions  of  the  natural  insect,  with 
a  result  that  is  exceedingly  interesting  both  in 
the  manner  it  is  made  to  act  and  the  way  trout 
are  seen  to  take  it. 

THE    GRASSHOPPER 

What  has  been  said  concerning  the  cricket  ex- 
actly fits  the  grasshopper,  of  which  there  are  a 
great  many  species,  differing  both  in  size  and 
color,  that  appear  during  the  latter  half  of  the 
summer.  The  winged  grasshopper  when  hooked 
through  the  body  is  perhaps  more  strenuous  to 
get  free  and  makes  more  fuss  on  the  surface,  which 
is  due  to  large  wing-spread,  yet  I  hardly  think 
it  so  good  a  natural  bait  as  the  jumper.  The  green 
species,  which  appears  early  in  June,  is  a  most 
excellent  bait,  though  it  is  very  tender  and  dies 
soon  after  being  hooked.  Later,  about  the  middle 
of  July,  the  red-legged  grasshopper  appears,  small 
in  size  but  very  abundant.  This  species  is  a  grayish 
green  on  the  back,  the  under  part  being  light  yel- 
low. It  is  very  active  and  quite  tough  on  the  hook. 


32  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

from  which  it  is  nipped  off  in  a  surprisingly  dex- 
terous way  by  trout.  Indeed,  I  have  found  it  very 
difficult  to  hook  trout  with  live-grasshopper  bait, 
unless  the  hook  is  quite  small.  No.  6  or  8.  Of  the 
several  imitations  I  have  made,  the  red-legged 
kind  has  proved  most  effective.  This  is  made  quite 
large  for  bass  on  No.  1-0  hook,  and  other  sizes 
down  to  the  tiny  grasshopper  on  No.  10  for  brook- 
trout.  For  brown  trout  a  good  size  is  one  that 
measures  one  and  a  half  inch  body  on  No.  2  hook. 
My  old  friend,  the  late  Wm.  C.  Harris,  in  his  list 
of  bass  baits  in  The  Booh  of  the  Basses,  entirely 
ignores  both  the  cricket  and  the  grasshopper;  yet 
it  is  certain  he  must  often  have  fished  with  such 
excellent  live  baits  that  are  equally  effective  for 
almost  all  game-fish.  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  to 
be  an  oversight  on  his  part.  No  angler  can  fail 
to  get  both  agreeable  sport  and  fish  if  well  supplied 
with  a  selection  of  various  sizes,  even  if  he  has 
but  a  fair  knowledge  of  how  to  play  them  dry- 
fly  fashion.  As  a  surface  bait  they  are  very  attrac- 
tive and  must  be  played  to  skip  over  the  surface, 
allowed  to  float  along  runways  in  the  same  manner 
the  natural  insect  does,  when,  by  accident,  it  drops 
or  jumps  on  the  water's  surface.  Grasshoppers 
are  eagerly  taken  by  all  game-fish,  for  perch  it  is 


CREATURES  THAT  GAME-FISH  EAT  33 

the  best  live  bait,  for  pickerel  in  weedy  parts  it 
gets  a  quick  response.  Large  chub,  all  three  species 
of  trout,  and  both  species  of  bass  feed  on  this  in- 
sect whenever  chance  occurs,  which  is  quite  often 
because  the  riverside  is  a  fruitful  feeding-ground. 

THE   LAMPREY 

This  most  excellent  bass  bait  is  another  of  limited 
service.  Bass  and  chub  seem  to  be  the  only  fish 
that  take  it  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  Its 
peculiar  wriggle  while  swimming  is  its  best  point, 
for  it  is  an  awful  pesky  live  bait  to  get  snagged 
on  the  bottom.  We  are  obliged  to  keep  the  live 
lamprey  on  the  move  all  the  time  or  good-bye  to 
our  tackle.  The  lamprey-eel  (often  known  as  the 
"lamper")  belongs  to  a  very  low  order  of  animals, 
having  no  bony  skeleton,  no  gills,  ribs,  or  limbs, 
and  being  a  naked  eel-shaped  creature  with  a 
sucker  mouth,  the  lips  of  which  are  fringed  with 
fine  hairs.  It  inhabits  the  fresh  cold  waters  of  riv- 
ers and  brooks,  and  gets  its  living  by  attaching  it- 
self to  other  fishes,  feeding  on  them  by  scraping  off 
the  flesh  with  its  rasp-like  teeth.  Adults  attain  to 
a  weight  of  several  pounds  and  two  feet  in  length. 

This  creature  is  the  only  one  I  would  never  think 
of  breeding  or  transplanting  for  food  purposes, 


34  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

indeed  its  destruction  and  extinction  from  our 
streams  would  be  a  most  desirable  thing.  Like 
the  common  eel  it  is  nocturnal  in  its  habits,  mov- 
ing about  the  deeper  parts  of  the  bed  of  rivers  in 
sluggish  places  which  are  haunted  by  suckers  and 
other  coarse  fish.  It  is  only  the  very  young  that 
is  used  for  bait,  the  best  size  being  about  five  inches 
long.  These  are  usually  found  in  black  muddy 
sand  close  to  the  shore  of  slow-moving  backwaters 
of  rivers,  and  a  shovel  is  all  that  is  necessary  to 
capture  them.  Dig  deep,  best  under  several  inches 
of  water,  and  throw  the  mud  upon  the  dry  bank, 
then  search  through  it  with  the  hands  for  the 
wrigglers.  They  are  more  slippery  and  agile  than 
the  eel,  and  of  all  live  bait  the  most  difficult  to 
impale  on  the  hook.  A  dead  one  is  no  attraction 
to  the  bass;  its  wriggle  only  is  the  attraction. 

By  the  time  this  is  in  print  I  shall  have  perfected 
a  floating  lamprey;  at  present  my  artificial,  while 
very  natural  in  appearance,  is  the  only  non-float- 
ing bait  I  have  made.  It  wriggles  all  right,  but 
must  be  kept  moving  or  it  sinks  to  the  bottom, 
with  the  same  difficulty  to  recover  as  the  natural 
bait.  I  shall  work  on  this  bait  till  I  succeed  in 
producing  a  lamprey  that  wriggles  and  at  the  same 
time  floats  in  suspension  about  mid-water  or  near 


CREATURES  THAT  GAME-FISH  EAT  35 

the  bottom,  according  to  where  it  is  fastened  on 
the  leader.  In  many  rivers  the  lamprey  as  a  bait 
is  most  attractive  to  bass,  and  if  the  artificial 
is  made  as  I  think  it  ought,  it  will  be  one  of  the 
best  baits  for  bass  fishermen  to  use. 

THE  GREEN  AND  BROWN  FROGS 

I  do  not  place  the  frog  so  far  down  on  the  list 
because  of  its  being  inferior  to  the  others  as  an 
effective  bait,  but  by  reason  of  its  limited  avail- 
ability. The  frog  is  not  always,  everywhere  effec- 
tive. In  certain  waters  it  is  supreme,  either  for 
bass,  pickerel,  pike,  or  muskellunge.  Large  chub, 
perch,  wall-eyed  pike  take  the  frog,  at  times.  I 
have  often  fished  brown-trout  waters  with  frogs 
caught  on  the  banks  of  the  stream,  but  failed 
every  time,  though  I  have  ocular  proof  of  trout 
taking  frogs.  I  witnessed  a  big  captive  brown 
trout  gobble  four  fair-sized  green  frogs  in  less 
than  as  many  minutes,  in  one  case  tearing  the 
limbs  from  the  body;  a  second  after,  the  body 
vanished  likewise.  There  are  certain  special  waters 
in  which  the  frog,  green  or  brown,  is  an  irresisti- 
ble bait  for  bass  and  pike. 

In  the  temperate  zone,  east  or  west,  there  are  a 
large  number  of  species  of  astonishing  variety  as  to 


36  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

size,  shape,  and  color.  The  most  abundant,  cover- 
ing a  wider  range,  is  the  black-spotted,  green 
leopard -frog;  also  the  brown,  banded  pickerel 
frog;  it  is  to  these  two  kinds  I  have  devoted  much 
time  in  the  last  several  years  in  developing  a  per- 
fect artificial  imitation  so  as  to  give  the  angler 
a  worthy  substitute  for  the  live  frog.  In  all  my 
long  fishing  career  I  do  not  know  of  a  more  pain- 
ful or  cruel  pastime  than  casting  out  a  live  frog 
hooked  by  the  lips.  If  not  taken  by  the  fish  in 
the  first  few  casts,  the  frog  turns  over  on  its  back, 
swells  up  like  a  rubber  ball,  and  is  then  worse  than 
useless.  In  that  condition  some  anglers  take  it 
from  the  hook,  give  it  a  short  respite  by  hooking 
a  new  one.  A  far  more  effective  way  to  fish  a  frog 
is  to  just  drop  it  on  the  water,  sit  still  and  wait 
while  froggie  wends  its  own  path  without  restraint 
till  it  happens  to  meet  its  doom  in  the  shape  of 
a  savage  fish  on  the  lookout  for  just  such  a  gastro- 
nomic tidbit  as  the  bass  considers  it  to  be. 
The  ideal  frog  water  is  a  weedy,  shallow  lake, 
and  although  very  prolific,  they  are  never  abun- 
dant where  game-fish  abide.  Being  both  a  land 
and  water  creature  they  live  in  constant  danger 
of  being  devoured,  not  only  by  fish,  but  by  rep- 
tiles, birds,  and  animals  which  take  the  frog  as 
part  of  their  diet,  from  the  smallest  tadpole  to 


CREATURES  THAT  GAIVIE-FISH  EAT  37 

the  big  bullfrog.  Along  the  riverside  an  observing 
angler  will  find  many  more  frogs  than  he  would 
imagine,  particularly  about  grassy  slopes  and 
shallow  backwaters.  I  have  noticed  that  their 
color  is  similar  to  their  environment.  You  observe 
most  often  the  brown  frog  near  rocky,  stony 
shores,  and  the  green  frog  mostly  abide  among 
the  green  weeds  and  grasses  of  both  lakes  and 
streams.  This  fact  is  well  to  remember  in  the 
choice  of  color  to  use  for  bait,  for  the  reason  that 
fish  naturally  are  more  apt  to  prefer  a  bait  similar 
to  their  daily  diet.  Between  the  two  species,  brown 
or  green,  there  seems  to  be  no  preference;  one  is 
just  as  effective  as  the  other,  but  I  do  think  if 
brown  is  common  in  a  certain  locality,  it  is  wis- 
dom to  use  that  color,  natural  or  artificial.  The 
habits  of  the  frog  are  so  well  known  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  give  details.  My  artificial  is  unsuitable  for 
trolling.  Like  the  natural  frog  it  should  be  cast 
lightly  in  open  spaces  between  weeds  and  lily- 
pads,  or  just  made  to  skip  along  the  surface  of 
open  water.  In  a  running  stream  frogs  do  not 
often  swim  across,  but  when  they  do,  they  strike 
rapidly  along  with  the  water  flow.  They  are  most 
effective  when  cast  at  the  sides  where  the  water 
is  fairly  deep  and  are  visible  to  the  fish  lying  be- 
low in  the  middle  of  the  stream. 


88  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

VARIOUS    CATERPILLARS 

Myriads  of  these  creepers  of  every  conceivable 
size  and  color  drop  into  the  water  from  overhang- 
ing boughs  of  trees  and  bushes,  or  are  washed 
away  from  the  sides  by  floods  throughout  the 
season,  and  kick  and  float  along  the  surface  until 
devoured  by  the  fish.  For  centuries  the  caterpillar 
has  been  considered  a  most  excellent  Jive  bait  for 
nearly  all  game-fish,  and  artificial  imitations  have 
been  made  in  numerous  ways,  mostly  in  different 
colored  hackles.  I  have  made  them  with  three 
small  hooks,  arranged  along  the  bushy  hackle 
bodies  in  black,  gray,  and  brown.  I  have  also 
made  them  on  a  small  Pennell  turn-down  eye 
No.  8  long  shank  hook  in  the  same  colors  on  cork 
bodies,  so  that  they  cannot  sink.  At  certain  times 
and  places  these  hairy  caterpillars  are  exceedingly 
attractive  to  brook  as  well  as  brown  trout.  They 
can  also  be  used  to  capture  perch,  bass,  chub,  and 
pickerel. 

DRAGON-FLIES    AND    DARNING-NEEDLES 

Many  anglers  of  the  Middle  West  and  Southern 
waters  claim  that  the  medium-size  dragon-fly  and 
the  small  darning-needle  are  both  excellent  natural 


CREATURES  THAT  GAME-FISH  EAT  39 

baits  for  several  game-fishes  in  the  shallow  weedy 
waters  where  they  breed  and  live.  I  have  made 
artificials  of  both  suitable  for  casting  on  the  sur- 
face, dry-fly  fashion,  to  float  indefinitely.  There 
is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  be  most  effec- 
tive lures  in  marshy,  weedy  parts  of  ponds  and 
lakes  where  pickerel,  perch,  bass,  and  even  trout 
love  to  abide.  All  fishes  feed  on  the  dragon-fly  in 
both  its  creeper  and  its  pupa  state,  and,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  hellgrammite,  feed  on  it  in  its  winged 
state.  Though  its  service  is  not  in  much  demand, 
I  think  it  will  grow  in  favor,  and  prove  after  trials 
to  be  a  useful  lure  to  use  on  suitable  occasions. 

THE    MOUSE    BAIT 

Up  to  the  present  time  I  have  not  yet  attempted 
to  make  an  artificial  mouse,  though  I  feel  sure  a 
good  one  will  be  found  of  great  service  to  use  in 
larger  rivers  and  the  edge  of  lakes.  I  have  on 
several  occasions  taken  the  very  young  of  musk- 
rats  and  water-rats  in  fresh  condition  from  the 
stomachs  of  brown  trout,  bass,  and  chub.  In  some 
localities  the  natural  mouse  or  young  rat  is  a 
favorite  bait  for  pike,  also  muskellunge  will  take 
them  of  larger  size.  Many  young  musk-rats  are 
doubtless  taken  by  fish  while  the  young  creatures 


40  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

have  been  crossing  the  stream,  which  they  often 
do,  following  after  their  parents  in  search  of  food. 
A  good  artificial  requires  to  have  movable  forelegs 
to  swim  half  submerged.  The  angler  who  is  pro- 
vided with  a  set  of  these  baits,  live  or  artificial,  is 
fully  equipped  to  fish  for  any  species  of  game-fish, 
in  any  season  or  condition  whatever. 
Before  concluding  this  chapter,  mention  should 
be  made  of  why  I  have  not  included  the  large 
family  of  coleoptera,  or  water-beetles,  so  very 
abundant  in  lakes,  ponds,  and  slow-moving 
streams.  In  many  examinations  of  stomach  con- 
tents of  various  game-fish,  I  have  not  yet  found 
evidence  that  adult  water-beetles  furnish  enough  of 
the  food-supply  to  make  it  necessary  for  artificial 
imitations.  Leonard  West,  in  his  admirable  book. 
The  Trout-Fly,  gives  several  varieties  that  trout 
feed  on,  and  even  prefer  to  insects.  Those  he  men- 
tions must  be  habitants  of  deep,  slow-moving 
streams.  Many  varieties  of  beetle  creepers  do 
certainly  furnish  considerable  bottom  food  for 
trout,  because  their  habit  is  not  to  hide,  but  to 
move  about  among  the  pebbles  in  search  of  food 
during  the  daytime.  Many  of  the  adult  water- 
beetles  toward  evening  leave  the  streams  and 
spread  their  wings  to  soar  in  the  air.  In  the  early 


CREATURES  THAT  GAME-FISH  EAT  41 

morning  they  again  seek  their  watery  homes. 
There  are  several  beetles  pictured  in  Trout  Stream 
Insects,  one,  in  particular,  for  May,  called  the 
red  bug,  of  which  the  artificial  is  a  most  taking 
fly  for  trout.  Another,  somewhat  smaller,  called 
the  red-headed  gnat,  is  quite  as  effective  for  hot- 
day  fishing.  Both  are  abundant  on  the  water  dur- 
ing May  and  June,  though  not  bred  in  the  water, 
being  land-beetles.  The  subject  is  one  in  which 
I  hope  to  make  further  studies. 
This  chapter  on  "the  relative  value  of  baits," 
would  be  incomplete  without  reference  to  the 
garden  and  night-walker  earthworms  as  trout 
food,  though  strictly  speaking  they  are  not  natural 
fish  food,  as  they  are  found  most  abundant  away 
from  water.  It  is  rather  from  centuries-old  as- 
sociations as  to  their  use  as  trout  baits  that  they 
are  mentioned  here  as  having  been — up  to  the 
present  time — almost  universally  used  by  every 
trout  angler,  young  and  old,  from  the  time  of 
Izaak  Walton.  Their  continued  wriggle  in  the 
water  after  being  impaled  on  the  hook  is  what 
attracts  trout.  It  would  be  idle  talk — ^nay,  false 
— ^to  say  that  the  earthworm  is  unattractive,  yet 
I  can  say,  after  long  and  earnest  practice  of  its 
use,  also  from  the  study  of  many  books  written 


42  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

about  it — in  particular  the  work  of  W.  C.  Stewart, 
the  Scotch  expert — in  very  truth  that  the  earth- 
worm is  not  really  so  elBfective  as  it  is  supposed 
or  said  to  be. 

The  worm  is  of  greatest  service  when  the  water 
is  colored,  and  in  flood  and  just  after  a  flood.  Its 
greatest  danger  and  harmfulness  is  when  being 
used  as  a  bait  to  float  down  a  small  brook  to  at- 
tract and  capture  large  quantities  of  undersized 
fingerling  trout.  Sometimes,  at  early  season,  be- 
fore insects  are  abundant  on  fair-sized  running 
streams,  worms  will  attract  the  brook-trout,  less 
often  the  brown  trout,  but  rarely  the  rainbow. 
If  sunk  to  the  bottom  of  deep  pools,  a  kicking 
worm  will  entice  large  fish;  not  always,  however; 
certainly  less  often  than  if  the  artificial  fly  is  skil- 
fully played  in  the  same  spot. 

Under  normal  conditions  of  water,  season,  and 
weather,  should  two  anglers  go  together  down- 
stream— on  one  side  the  worm-fisher,  on  the  other 
a  fly-fisher;  the  latter  will,  if  fairly  skilful,  always 
bag  the  fullest  creel.  I  have  proved  this  many 
times,  and  the  reason  is  obvious:  Insects  are  the 
natural  food  of  trout;  worms  are  not.  We  would 
never  dream  of  digging  for  worms  alongside  a 
river,  but  go  directly  to  the  nearest  corn  or  potato 


CREATURES  THAT  GAME-FISH  EAT 


43 


patch,  or,  better  still,  a  garden  or  dunghill  where 
they  abundantly  abide  and  breed. 
It  is  a  regrettable  thing  to  have  writers  and  sport- 
ing magazine  editors  constantly  lauding  the  worm 
as  a  trout  bait.  Such  writers  are  either  incom- 
petent fly-fishermen  or  they  write  from  hearsay 
and  traditional  imagination  of  abnormal  con- 
ditions. In  general  use,  a  well-chosen  and  properly 
played  fly,  either  sunk  or  at  the  surface,  is  almost 
certain  at  any  season,  time,  or  place  to  attract 
trout  better  than  worms,  except,  as  previously 
stated,  when  fishing  brooks  for  fingerlings. 


Ill 


NEW  BOTTOM-CREEPER  BAITS  FOR  TROUT 
NOT  HERETOFORE  KNOWN 

Every  angler  must  be  deeply  interested  in  things 
that  are  new  and  likely  to  be  good  lures  to  entice 
either  rainbows,  brown  trout,  or  natives — ^pos- 
sibly all  three — ^inore  especially  so  if  we  can  get 
them  to  be  effective  when  flies  are  useless,  at  times 
in  early  spring  or  hot  midsummer.  During  the 
last  two  seasons  the  post-mortem  examination  of 
the  stomach  contents  of  many  native,  brown, 
and  rainbow  trout  revealed  to  me  the  amazing 
fact  that  the  identical  creatures  served  as  bot- 
tom food  for  trout  caught  in  waters  as  far  apart 
as  Lake  Edward,  Quebec;  Lake  Kora,  Adiron- 
dacks;    and    the    Neversink    River,    New    York. 

44 


NEW  BOTTOM-CREEPER  BAITS  FOR  TROUT      45 

Hence,  we  may  fairly  assume  trout  food  to  be 
more  or  less  similar  all  over  the  northern  zone, 
east  or  west,  with  few  exceptions  to  be  mentioned 
later  on. 

Doubtless  many  anglers  are  unaware  that  the 
greater  part  of  aquatic  insects  while  in  the  creeper 
state  are  not  available  as  food  for  fishes,  because 
they  are  out  of  sight  burrowing  in  the  mud  or 
sandy  bottom  from  three  to  eighteen  inches  deep 
below  the  water.  The  new-born  wingless  flies  are 
soft  in  substance,  of  a  pale  lemon  color,  not  ac- 
quiring their  full  coloration  until  some  hours  after 
reaching  the  surface.  This  feature  is  general  in 
all  the  classes,  and  trout  fishermen  will  often  be 
puzzled  to  find  that  the  same  insects  have  differ- 
ent colors  within  the  space  of  a  few  hours.  Thus 
it  is  that  myriads  of  insects  are  hatched  on  the 
bottom  throughout  the  trout  season,  and  by  their 
daily  appearance,  travelling  through  the  water 
to  the  surface,  must  naturally  furnish  abundant 
food  close  to  where  the  fish  abide,  so  that  it  is 
not  at  all  surprising  to  find  trout  at  different 
periods  unresponsive  to  our  dry  flies  on  the  sur- 
face, and  even  our  wet  flies  just  under  the  surface. 
Trout  are  then  feeding  on  a  wingless  creeper,  and 
a  feathered  imitation  insect  is  not  then  wanted. 


46  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

It  is  because  of  this  important  fact  that  I  have 
made  three  new  lures,  the  first  ever  made  (so  far 
as  I  am  aware)  for  trout  fishing  under  adverse 
fly-fishing  conditions.  No  matter  what  part  of  the 
season,  early  or  late,  these  creepers  should  be 
effective. 

Besides  the  creepers  I  have  named — trout-hell- 
grammite,  caddis-creeper,  and  yellow  nymph- 
creeper — I  have  also  made  a  nymph-creeper  in 
black  to  imitate  the  black  dose  insect,  which  ap- 
pears about  the  middle  of  August,  on  wet  days, 
when  many  of  these  black  creepers  may  be  seen 
climbing  up  the  large  boulders  on  the  river  side 
where  they  soon  change  to  the  adult  state  and 
take  wing.  There  is  also  a  dark  insect  for  June 
which  I  call  the  "Chocolate,"  quite  large  in  size 
but  not  nearly  so  abundant.  These  two  imitations 
copy  faithfully  the  creeper  state  as  they  exist 
in  transit  from  the  sub-imago  to  the  imago  state; 
viz.,  as  they  exist  while  on  their  voyage  to  the 
surface,  there  to  emerge  eventually  and  take  flight 
as  a  perfect  insect. 

This  new  wingless  nymph-creeper  is  the  largest 
in  size  of  the  many  species  of  drake,  which,  though 
they  vary  much  in  size  and  color,  are  exactly  alike 
in  form.  The  entire  body  of  the  artificial  is  straw- 


NEW  BOTTOM-CREEPER  BAITS  FOR  TROUT      47 

color  with  the  exception  of  the  two  undeveloped 
purple-blue  wings.  Being  made  of  raffia  and  wound 
with  yellow  hackle,  it  will  sink  slowly  to  the  bot- 
tom if  cast  down-stream,  when  it  should  be  lifted 
now  and  then  by  a  quick  rise  of  the  rod-tip,  thus 
giving  the  creeper  a  lifelike  movement  in  imitation 
of  its  ascent  to  the  surface.  If  cast  up-stream  in 
fairly  rapid  water  the  cast  need  be  no  more  than 
thirty  feet,  taking  in  line  fast  enough  to  keep  the 
lure  from  being  fouled.  This  creeper,  along  with 
the  others,  while  very  attractive,  is  not  intended 
to  replace  the  use  of  flies,  but  to  fill  the  void  dur- 
ing those  times  when  trout  are  refusing  flies. 

All  fly-fishermen  are  familiar  with  the  case  or 
caddis-worm  creeper  that  lies  on  the  river  bed  or 
clings  to  large  boulders,  sometimes  in  swarms. 
They  have,  like  myself  perhaps,  picked  out  the 
worm  from  the  case  to  try  these  live  wrigglers 
for  trout  with  more  or  less  success.  They  are,  when 
carefully  hooked,  wrigglers  from  Wriggleville,  stay 
well  on  the  hook,  and  are  an  entirely  satisfactory 
live  bait.  In  all  natural  trout  streams  both  caddis 
and  nymph  creepers  are  abundant,  furnishing 
considerable  natural  food  in  their  season,  and  it 
is  upon  this  particular  kind  of  food  that  trout 
thrive  and  rapidly  attain  great  size.  For  that  reason 


48  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

I  do  not  advocate  the  use  of  them  as  Hve  bait, 
because  it  is  more  to  the  fisherman's  interest  to 
leave  them  to  breed  and  multiply  solely  for  trout 
food.  If,  however,  we  make  our  artificials  suffice, 
we  shall  not  rob  the  trout  or  other  fish  of  their 
natural  diet,  which  robbery,  if  carried  to  excess, 
will  result  in  there  being  no  trout  to  capture.  How- 
ever plentifully  the  rivers  are  stocked,  trout  must 
be  supplied  with  food  to  grow  and  become  more 
abundant.  This  truism  I  repeat  constantly,  yet 
not  too  often. 

Caddis-flies  are  classed  under  the  general  head 
of  "Duns"  (trichoptera),  which  includes  a  large 
variety  of  species  that  may  be  placed  in  two  well- 
defined  families.  The  first  consists  of  those  larvae 
which  make  portable  cases  which  they  drag  around 
with  them  wherever  they  go,  of  which  the  insect 
I  name  "Cinnamon,"  in  Trout  Stream  Insects,  is 
one  of  the  largest  species,  and  is  here  illustrated. 
The  other  class  is  composed  of  those  larvae  making 
fixed  cases,  generally  attached  to  large  stones, 
from  which  they  issue  in  quest  of  food,  and  to 
which  they  return  for  rest.  Each  of  these  two 
divisions  furnishes  a  vast  quantity  of  bottom 
food  for  trout,  which  they  eagerly  devour,  both 
creeper  and  case,  as  I  have  proved  by  many  un- 


m 


50 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


How  trout  take  underwater-creeper  baits. 


digested  speci- 
mens found  in 
their  stomachs. 

The  imitation 
caddis  should  be 
fished  as  near  the 
bottom  as  possi- 
ble at  end  of 
leader,  along  with 
the  nymph-creep- 
er tied  on  a  three- 
inch  snell  placed 
above  at  about 
midwater,  the  dis- 
tance apart  being 
regulated  accord- 
ing to  the  depth 
of  water.  A  tiny 
grasshopper, 
cricket,  or  tiny 
terror  minnow 

(all  on  No.  10 
hooks)  placed  as 
upper  or  third  lure 
could  be  attached 
to  top  of  leader 


NEW  BOTTOM-CREEPER  BAITS  FOR  TROUT      51 

to  attract  trout  to  the  surface.  Such  a  combina- 
tion has  proved  irresistible  many  times,  espe- 
cially down -stream  fishing  in  swift  water,  or  a 
fast  runway  through  a  long,  deep  pool.  If  the  reader 
will  refer  to  Chapter  VII  and  consult  the  chart- 
plan  he  will  at  once  know  just  where  and  how 
to  work  this  triple-lure  cast.  Here  you  have  three 
indestructible  artificial  baits  for  trout  to  last  all 
season — ^with  luck — that  perfectly  imitate  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  natural  trout  food,  that  provide 
a  much  higher  art  than  worm  fishing,  and  that 
are  effective  at  any  time,  place,  or  season,  with 
opportunity  to  cast  and  play  the  fish  exactly  the 
same  as  with  the  most  approved  fly-fishing  meth- 
ods. I  can  say  here,  personally,  that  my  trout- 
fishing  trips  are  a  continuous  delight,  a  constant 
happy  surprise.  Being  well  equipped  with  a  selec- 
tion of  minnows,  lures,  and  flies,  I  have  no  worries 
that  they  die  or  get  lost.  Snugly  packed  in  sepa- 
rate boxes,  I  take  out  as  I  wade  along  the  stream 
those  lures  I  think  most  seductive,  catch  the  fish, 
and  have  a  jolly  time. 

The  third  creeper  is  the  trout-hellgrammite,  which 
differs  from  the  caddis  and  nymph  in  form  as  well 
as  habits,  being  entirely  a  bottom  creeper,  one 
inch  long  (more  or  less)  lighter  and  more  olive- 


L.  I  E:J  R  A  Fv  Y 

OF  TH£ 
WOOp$TOCK  CLUB 


52  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

brown  in  color  than  the  well-known  bass  bait, 
from  which  it  differs  only  in  feelers  being  absent 
along  the  abdomen;  the  head  and  thorax  are 
broad  and  flat,  of  a  rich  brown  color  marked  with 
irregular-shaped  cream-colored  blotches.  The  un- 
der-body  is  light  straw-color,  and  the  six  stout 
legs  attached  close  to  the  head  enable  it  to  move 
rapidly  over  or  under  stones  or  creep  in  sand  or 
mud  to  hide  from  danger.  It  is  mostly  found  in 
the  deeper  parts  of  the  river  bed,  always  a  safe 
foraging  place  for  larger  fish.  It  does  not  rise  to 
the  surface  like  the  nymph-creeper,  but  when  ready 
to  change  from  the  creeper  state  crawls  along  the 
bottom  bed  to  the  sides,  up  large  boulders  or  stems 
of  aquatic  plants. 

Under  the  most  favorable  conditions,  the  bot- 
tom beds  of  lakes  and  streams,  where  game-fish 
are  at  all  plentiful,  are  not  crowded  with  creepers. 
In  the  battle  of  life  aquatic  creatures  are  instinc- 
tively wary:  they  hide  under  stones,  among  weeds, 
or  burrow  out  of  sight  under  sand  or  mud  to  avoid 
being  seen  by  the  sharp  eyes  of  trout,  that  soon 
discover  and  devour  them.  From  the  stomach  of 
one  large  brook-trout  caught  in  the  Willowemoc 
I  have  taken  seven  of  these  hellgrammites  from 
half  an  inch  to  one  inch  and  three-quarters  in 


NEW  BOTTOM-CREEPER  BAITS  FOR  TROUT      53 

length.  To  be  successful  in  fishing  the  artificial, 
like  the  caddis,  it  should  be  attached  to  the  end 
of  the  leader,  cast  out  as  a  fly  to  deep  water  and 
allowed  to  sink  to  the  bottom,  where  it  must  be 
continually  moved  from  place  to  place. 

This  little  hellgrammite  is  more  common  as  food 
for  brook-trout,  and  the  artificial  is  very  attrac- 
tive to  them.  I  have  taken  several  fine  trout  on 
it,  when  they  have  run  up  from  deep  water  be- 
fore the  creeper  got  near  the  bottom.  It  cannot 
fail  to  attract  bass,  though  tied  on  hooks  much 
too  small  for  that  fish;  yet  if  used  and  played  like 
a  fly  it  succeeds  in  giving  excellent  sport.  It  will 
be  found  a  taking  cast  if  alternated  with  the  cad- 
dis-creeper at  end  of  leader  with  the  nymph  above 
it  on  the  leader.  In  addition  to  the  colored  repre- 
sentations of  these  three  insects,  I  give  pen-pic- 
tures side  by  side,  to  show  the  stages  from  creeper 
to  insect,  with  the  artificial  imitations  of  both 
fly  and  creeper,  in  order  to  simplify  the  differences 
between  them.  Personal  preference  will  dictate 
how  the  angler  shall  fish  them,  whether  singly, 
as  a  dry  fly,  in  doubles,  or  in  trebles.  I  try  all, 
according  to  conditions.  In  this  chapter  I  hope 
to  convince  fly-fishermen  how  much  better,  how 
superior  in  artistic  attainment  it  is  to  have  along 


54 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


with  you  specimens  of  these  nature  lures  to  be 
ready  for  use  at  any  time  required,  rather  than 
the  plebeian,  dirty  method  of  using  garden-worms. 
The  comparison  is  indeed  odious  in  the  extreme, 
even  granting  that  worms  do,  at  times,  catch 
trout  and  bass. 


IV 


HOW  DIFFERENT  FOODS  AFFECT  GAME- 
FISHES 

While  I  am  convinced  of  the  truth  that  the 
insect  diet  of  game-fishes  induces  a  faster  growth 
and  more  gamy  quahties,  it  is  out  of  the  question 
for  nature  to  supply  even  a  small  part  of  the  in- 
sects that  are  necessary  to  sustain  a  fair  number 
of  fish  in  any  water.  Even  if  we  include  bottom 
creepers,  vast  in  numbers  as  they  are,  all  would 
not  suffice  to  supply  the  food  required  to  make 
trout  lusty  and  plentiful.  In  the  temperate  zone, 
aquatic  insects  do  not  rise  over  the  water  in  any 
great  quantity  till  after  the  first  week  in  May. 
From  that  time  on,  they  rapidly  develop,  if 
weather  conditions  are  at  all  favorable,  till  the 

55 


v/ 


56  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

apex  of  their  abundance  is  about  the  first  week 
in  June,  when  over  two  hundred  species  of  insects 
change  from  the  creeper  state  at  the  bed  of  the 
river  or  lake  to  rise  above  the  surface  for  one  to 
three  days,  solely  to  perpetuate  their  species  and 
then  die.  During  that  period  all  the  trout  family 
feed  and  gorge,  night  and  day,  taking  on  flesh 
and  sleekness  to  a  greater  extent  than  at  any  other 
part  of  the  year.  No  matter  whether  you  capture 
trout  at  early  morn  or  late  at  eve,  their  stomachs 
are  crammed  full  of  undigested  insects. 

As  long  as  insects  rise,  so  long  do  trout  feed. 
From  June  the  fourteenth  the  vast  number  of 
insects  rapidly  declines,  until  at  midsummer  and 
during  the  hot  season,  aquatic  insects  are  rarely 
seen  during  the  daytime,  and  trout  are  then  al- 
most impossible  to  capture  with  artificial  flies. 
Many  anglers  are  puzzled  at  this  curious  condi- 
tion. Just  the  very  time  the  fisherman  wants  his 
vacation  and  goes  fishing,  he  is  confronted  with 
the  annoying  fact  that  trout  are  sluggishly  in- 
clined to  his  flies  during  the  daytime.  His  only 
chance  of  success  is  while  trout  are  visibly  feeding 
for  a  short  time  between  sunset  and  dark.  The 
puzzled  and  vexed  angler  may  be  interested  to 
know  that  aquatic  insects  are  extremely  sensitive 


HOW  DIFFERENT  FOODS  AFFECT  GAME-FISHES    57 

to  both  heat  and  cold.  They  won't  and  don't  rise  y 

on  a  cold  day,  nor  do  they  on  a  hot  day.  They 
patiently  wait  on  hot  days  to  rise  over  the  water 
in  the  cool  shade  of  evening  and  night. 

The  question  arises,  What  are  trout  doing  on 
hot,  sultry  days.^  The  answer  is  simply,  they  are 
doing  nothing  except  lying  still,  poised  at  the 
bottom,  where  the  water  is  coolest.  With  stomachs 
jammed  full  taken  in  during  the  previous  night, 
they  can  be  patient  and  await  their  evening  meal. 
Another  question  might  be  asked.  If  no  insects 
abound  on  sultry  days,  why  don't  trout  rise  to 
the  angler's  perfect  imitation,  played  dry-fly 
fashion,  just  as  the  natural  insect  floats  along 
the  surface  .f^  Sometimes  they  do,  but  most  often 
they  don't.  Very  often  they  swim  up  just  to  say, 
"No,  thank  you."  Trout  are  very  cunning  and 
wary,  especially  old  ones.  There  is  no  doubt  what-  ^ 

ever  that  trout  prefer  insects  to  minnows  or  other  « 

food-fish.  Whether  it  is  because  insects  are  easier 
to  capture  or  more  palatable,  the  fact  remains 
that  artificial  flies  are  the  best  lure  for  trout  dur- 
ing the  heavy  rise  of  insects  in  late  May  and  June. 
I  have  never  found  a  mixture  of  flies  and  minnows 
in  their  stomachs  at  that  period.  It  is  either  one 
thing  or  the  other.  Before  insects  are  very  abun- 


58  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

dant,  the  stomach  contents  are  most  often  bottom 
creepers;  now  and  then  may  be  found  a  minnow, 
or  at  early  season  flood  times  we  find  various 
worms. 

Scientists  have  made  tests  on  the  rate  of  growth 
of  aquarium  specimens  on  different  diets  for  trout. 
The  result  is  interesting  and  quite  natural.  Trout 
grow  four  times  as  fast  on  insect  and  creeper  diet 
as  they  do  on  fish  diet.  Fish  food  is  twice  as 
effective  as  a  diet  of  worms.  When  insects  become 
scarce,  from  the  end  of  June  to  the  end  of  August, 
trout  turn  their  attention  to  a  diet  of  fish,  grass- 
hoppers, crickets,  caterpillars,  and  the  creepers 
which  are  about  to  emerge  for  the  late  autumn 
flight  when  the  temperature  is  more  normal.  We 
find  in  September  and  October  insects  again  be- 
come abundant,  though  not  so  thick  as  the  spring 
rise,  but  suflicient  to  attract  trout,  and  induce 
them  to  feed  on  insects  exclusively  till  severe  cold 
sets  in.  Therefore  it  is  apparent  that  minnow 
baits,  live  or  artificial,  are  most  effective  and  best 
to  use,  all  through  the  season  except  the  insect 
glut  late  in  May  and  early  in  June.  These  con- 
ditions refer  more  especially  to  waters  of  the  East- 
ern seaboard  of  the  temperate  zone,  from  the 
Delaware  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  including  Maine, 


HOW  DIFFERENT  FOODS  AFFECT  GAME-FISHES    59 

though  the  latter  may  be  said  to  be  rather  later 
than  the  waters  of  the  higher  Catskills  and  Adiron- 
dacks. 

Trout  naturally  grow  to  a  greater  size  in  the 
deep,  cool  lakes  than  in  fast-running  streams, 
as  less  effort  is  required  to  get  food,  which  is 
nearly  always  abundant  because  of  a  greater  range 
for  fish  food  to  breed.  The  most  fastidious  epicure 
cannot  detect  any  difference  in  the  taste  of  a  cooked 
trout  taken  from  lake  or  stream,  if  both  fish  have 
subsisted  on  similar  diet  in  both  situations — if  it 
be  in  the  wild  state.  The  case  is  entirely  different 
with  trout  reared  by  artificial  means  and  fed  most 
often  on  chopped  liver  and  eggs.  The  effect  of 
the  artificial  rearing  and  the  food  consumed,  is 
fully  apparent  in  the  taste  of  the  fish  when  cooked. 
In  addition  to  that,  artificial  food  has  a  deterrent 
effect  on  the  gamy  qualities  of  trout,  making  them 
dull,  listless  after  being  hooked,  no  matter  what 
bait  is  used  to  capture  them. 

The  real  truth  is,  the  more  fish  have  to  hunt 
for  their  food  the  more  gamy  do  they  act  on  the 
restraining  line.  There  is  also  no  question  that 
those  trout  captured  by  means  of  artificial  flies, 
while  feeding  on  insects,  are  always  more  strenuous 
in  resistance,  in  other  words  more  gamy,  than  if 


60  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

captured  on  any  other  lure  while  taking  other 
food.  It  is  also  the  greater  activity  required  in 
getting  their  food  in  the  swifter  waters  that  makes 
trout  and  bass  more  gamy  in  resistance,  and  their 
activity  is  more  prolonged.  In  such  waters  they 
become  more  adroit  and  skilful  in  ejecting  the 
hook,  at  the  same  time  in  such  situations  they 
are  more  bold  and  aggressive,  taking  the  bait 
or  fly  at  top  speed,  just  as  they  doubtless  do  for 
their  natural  food.  I  have  witnessed  trout  dart 
upward  to  my  minnow  or  fly,  miss  it,  then  turn- 
ing down-stream,  rushing  along  after  it  like  a 
flash,  taking  the  lure  with  a  smash  most  admir- 
able to  behold.  No  need  of  a  strike  of  the  wristj 
no  fear  of  their  being  unhooked;  they  take  the 
lure  as  if  it  were  their  natural  food,  without  fear 
or  scruple. 

I  have  also  seen  a  small-mouth  bass  of  good  size 
in  its  lair  of  deep,  though  moving  water,  slyly 
watch  a  kicking  crawfish  pass  along  overhead, 
then  in  a  leisurely  way  follow  after,  view  it  a 
few  seconds,  and  return  to  its  lair.  Again  it  would 
swim  down-stream,  at  a  faster  pace  to  reach  the 
crawfish  just  before  it  began  to  touch  bottom, 
when  it  would  mouth  but  not  swallow  it,  slowly 
moving  to  its  accustomed  abode  in  such  an  easy- 


Small-mouth  black  bass 
Micropterus  Dolomien 


HOW  DIFFERENT  FOODS  AFFECT  GAME-FISHES    61 

going  way  as  to  make  me  exclaim:  "Wake  up,  old 
chap,  and  stir  around,  so  that  I  can  strike  with 
good  eflFect."  In  the  glassy  water  the  whole  pro- 
ceedings were  in  full  view.  I  was  too  wise  to  strike 
before  the  bait  was  properly  pouched,  but  when 
it  is  and  the  strike  done,  the  bass  instantly  shows 
evidence  of  the  fighter  beyond  compare  he  surely 
is. 

Such  observations  give  an  opportunity  to  see 
exactly  how  food  is  taken  in  the  natural  way  where 
there  is  plenty  of  it,  in  fairly  deep  pools  several 
hundred  feet  in  extent.  In  such  places  bass  don't 
hunt;  they  simply  take  in  from  the  abundant 
supply  that  surrounds  them.  I  have  on  several 
occasions  taken  twelve  or  more  nice  bass  from 
this  place  within  a  radius  of  twenty  feet.  The 
active  rushes,  and  leaps  above  the  surface,  seem 
to  have  no  effect  to  frighten  the  other  fish,  who 
would  leave  their  particular  abode  beside  a  big 
boulder  and  in  the  same  deliberate  manner  calmly 
take  the  bait,  as  if  it  were  just  the  right  thing 
to  do. 

Such  fishing  is  quite  simple,  and  it  is  bound  to 
succeed  if  you  give  the  fish  time  to  pouch.  But 
when  I  use  artificial  bait  the  procedure  is  reversed. 
I  strike  the  moment  I  feel  the  bait  is  touched. 


62  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

Even  if  I  take  it  from  the  mouth  it  often  happens 
that  the  fish  in  a  testy  humor  will  again  make  a 
dart  and  take  it  more  securely.  Then  again,  the 
fish  may  be  scared  and  refuse  to  repeat  the  strike, 
so  that  after  a  while  I  cast  to  new  pastures.  My 
argument  goes  to  show  that  fish  go  for  my  baits, 
live  or  artificial,  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  they 
go  for  their  natural  food,  which  causes  them  to 
take  it  swiftly  or  slowly,  or  not  at  all.  This  also 
goes  to  show  that  if  fish  are  not  feeding  on  natural 
food  they  are  very  much  less  inclined  to  take  a 
proffered  bait,  be  it  the  real  thing  or  an  imitation. 
I  have  never  found  the  stomach  of  bass,  pickerel, 
or  pike  so  full  as  that  of  trout.  For  one  thing,  bass 
are  deeply  engrossed  in  looking  after  their  young 
through  May  and  June,  at  the  time  insects  are 
abundant  and  trout  gorging.  After  June,  trout 
feed  about  normal,  like  the  bass.  In  large  waters 
like  Lake  George  and  Lake  Champlain  there  are 
several  great  rises  of  insects  during  July  and 
August,  sometimes  later.  Vast  clouds  of  both 
duns  and  drakes  appear  during  warm  days,  yet 
this  remarkable  abundance  of  insect  flight  over 
the  surface  does  not  attract  the  bass  to  any  ex- 
tent.   Just  a  few  may  be  seen,  now  and  then,  but 


HOW  DIFFERENT  FOODS  AFFECT  GAME-FISHES    63 

nothing  like  the  effect  such  a  rise  of  insects  would 
have  on  river  trout,  though  not  trout  in  lakes. 
This  remarkable  difference  in  the  way  trout  may 
be  seen  feeding  at  the  surface  on  a  glut  of  insects 
in  one  water,  and  not  in  another,  is  entirely  due 
to  the  effect  their  natural  food  has  upon  them. 
They  don't  rise  when  they  have  more  than  enough 
food  at  the  bottom;  they  are  not  looking  up,  but 
down;  enough  to  them  is  as  good  as  a  feast. 

It  entirely  rests  with  the  angler  to  meet  this 
abnormal  condition.  The  mountain  and  Mahomet 
fable  fits  it,  so  that  if  trout  or  bass  won't  come  to 
us,  we  must  go  to  them.  Surely  we  have  intel- 
ligence equal  to  theirs.  We  must  find  more  seduc- 
tive lures  to  get  the  best  of  the  situation. 

The  question  again  arises:  What  are  the  most 
seductive  lures  .^^  Here  again  my  theory  must  be 
right,  viz.:  Give  the  fish  what  it  most  prefers,  if 
you  can  procure  it;  if  not,  an  exact  artificial  imi- 
tation of  it.  If  its  natural  food  is  frogs,  be  oblig- 
ing and  give  it  frogs.  Creepers,  minnows,  hell- 
grammites,  any  and  every  thing  is  at  the  angler's 
command  to  judiciously  offer  to  the  confiding 
fish.  If  the  fish  is  too  smart,  and  I  confess  it  is 
so  very  often,  and  turns  its  nose  up  at  our  baits. 


y 


64  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

the  fault  is  ours.  We  do  not  garnish  our  dish  to 
suit — ^we  need  consult  Chapter  XI. 
Another  important  matter  concerning  the  sub- 
ject of  this  chapter  is  that  in  all  waters  the  fish 
food  changes  at  different  parts  of  the  season. 
Nature  provides  restricted  periods  for  various 
creatures  to  develop.  In  spring  one  kind  of  food 
is  abundant,  and  absent  in  summer  and  fall.  In 
winter  the  greater  part  of  the  food  that  fish  con- 
sume lies  dormant  in  mud  or  sand;  for  that  reason 
it  is  essential  to  know  what  is  best  to  choose  for 
each  part  of  the  season.  Minnows  and  the  young 
of  other  fish  do  not  appear  in  the  shallows  of  rivers 
till  after  snow-water  has  run  off.  Temperature 
controls  aquatic  life  much  more  than  one  would 
suppose.  Very  little  food  is  taken  in  early  spring, 
as  stomach  contents  reveal,  and  what  little  there 
is  seems  to  be  entirely  deep-water  creepers.  To 
this  fact  I  attribute  the  attractiveness  of  the  worm 
as  a  bait  for  trout  at  the  opening  season.  Fly-fisher- 
men seem  to  be  fully  alive  to  this  condition,  for 
they  candidly  confess  that  their  efforts  are  best 
repaid  on  that  sort  of  "fly."  The  popularity  of 
the  "dry-fly"  has  by  no  means  taken  the  place 
of  the  "garden-fly"  or  plebeian  worm,  which  in 


HOW  DIFFERENT  FOODS  AFFECT  GAME-FISHES    65 

tackle  shop  talk  is  alluded  to  in  the  most  disdain- 
ful manner,  yet  on  the  stream  the  fisherman's 
worm-box  is  well  filled,  though  tucked  in  out  of 
sight,  and  his  hat  adorned  with  an  amazing  selec- 
tion of  flies,  both  wet  and  dry. 


BOTTOM  FISH  FOOD  IN  LAKES  IN  RELATION 
TO  WHY  TROUT  DON'T  TAKE  FLIES 

Here  we  have  a  condition  that  is  simpHcity  it- 
self, yet  it  has  puzzled  and  vexed  many  anglers 
whose  conservative  ideas  never  take  a  turn,  and 
who  reason  the  matter  trying  to  solve  a  problem 
that  is  as  plain  as  plain  can  be.  It  is  the  first  and 
most  important  thing  for  the  angler  to  learn  that 
the  fish  in  each  body  of  water  (large  pond  or  lake), 
whether  rainbows,  brown  or  brook  trout,  or  even 
a  combination  of  them,  almost  invariably  feed 
upon  one  species  of  fish  or  other  food.  Sometimes 
it  happens  to  be  young  bullheads,  of  which  parts 
of  the  lake  are  a  living  mass.  In  other  lakes  I  have 
found  the  bed  to  be  covered  with  young  sunfish, 


BOTTOM  FISH  FOOD  IN  LAKES  67 

from  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  to  two  inches 
long.  In  other  lakes,  where  the  bed  is  in  most  part 
covered  with  aquatic  growth,  at  certain  seasons 
this  is  alive  with  fresh-water  shrimps,  creepers,  bee- 
tles, and  insects. 

In  some  lakes  (large  or  small)  where  food  is  so 
thick  as  to  be  consumed  without  eflFort,  trout  do 
not  rise  to  flies  at  the  surface;  also  they  do  not 
usually  display  any  active  resistance  when  cap- 
tured on  rod  and  line,  whatever  bait  may  be  em- 
ployed. The  right  bait  to  use  must  be  found  out 
by  opening  the  stomach  to  see  what  it  contains. 
Anglers  have  found  that  in  almost  every  instance 
the  worm,  either  large  or  small,  has  heretofore 
been  the  only  successful  bait  to  capture  specimens 
for  investigation.  At  the  same  time,  the  worm  is 
not  always  a  safe  bait,  and  I  am  sure  that  a  live 
bullhead  or  sunfish,  if  it  can  be  procured,  is  bound 
to  be  more  effective  to  get  those  trout,  or  an  arti- 
ficial imitation  made  to  act  in  the  water  like  that, 
or  other  natural  food.  It  is  far  more  difficult  to 
attain  success  in  bottom  fishing  than  at  the  sur- 
face of  lake,  where  food  is  not  visible  and  trout 
congregate  together  in  certain  parts  which  are 
very  difficult  to  determine.  We  can  only  spot 
them   by   frequent   tests   of  different  food.   The 


68  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

reason  why  one  species  of  fish  food  is  most  abun- 
dant is  because  the  food-supply  they  exist  upon 
is  very  plentiful,  except  in  case  of  cannibalism, 
as  in  bullheads  or  catfish.  After  a  time,  both  trout 
and  bass  by  feeding  bring  down  overabundance 
to  reasonable  limits.  The  young  of  perch,  dace  or 
fall-fish,  suckers,  and  many  species  of  minnows 
are  preyed  upon  according  to  their  numbers,  and 
it  is  natural  that  fish  choose  to  abide  near  at  hand 
to  get  them. 

One  lake  I  have  often  fished  contains  plenty  of 
large  brook-trout  which  feed  exclusively  on  young 
sunfish.  Local  anglers  have  captured  them  only 
on  the  bottom  with  worms,  and  have  never  been 
known  to  take  artificial  flies  or  even  the  natural 
insects  which  are  at  times  quite  plentiful  at  the 
surface.  After  the  first  of  May  a  host  of  large- 
size  sunfish  take  all  the  worm  baits  and  no  trout 
are  caught  during  the  entire  season.  As  yet  I  have 
had  no  chance  to  test  other  baits  than  worm;  when 
I  do,  the  result  will  no  doubt  be  favorable.  These 
trout  have  no  opportunity  to  get  worms.  It  is 
the  kick  and  liveliness  which  is  so  attractive  to 
them,  and  any  other  active  bait  (not  attractive 
to  sunfish)  would,  I  am  sure,  suffice  just  as  well. 
From  the  stomach  of  one  trout  I  have  taken  as 


BOTTOM  FISH  FOOD  IN  LAKES 


many  as  twelve  young  sunfish  half  an  inch  long, 
while  neither  insects  nor  other  food  was  found  in 
any  of  the  trout  captured  in  this  lake  on  many 
different  occasions.  Fy-casting,  dry  or  wet,  was 
to  everybody  a  vain  effort.  This  condition  is 
typical  of  many  lakes  in  localities  wide  apart, 
except  that  the  fish  food  varies,  yet  in  each  in- 
dividual instance  anglers,  after  trying  flies  and 
worms,  always  give  the  matter  up  in  disgust  or 
despair.  I  repeatedly  get  plaintive  letters  from 
anglers,  even  from  Canada,  who  say,  "I  know  lots 
of  fish  are  in  this  lake,  but  nobody  can  find  a  bait 
to  capture  them  and  they  won't  touch  flies."  The 
reply  would  be  quite  easy  if  I  knew  the  fish  food 
contained  in  the  lake.  The  only  proper  way  to  go 
about  solving  such  a  diflSculty  is  simply  to  take 
tests  of  the  food-supply,  either  by  observation,  by 
the  use  of  live  bait  known  to  be  attractive,  or  by 
artificial  imitations  of  game-fish  food,  tried  one 
after  the  other  till  success  is  won. 

Another  difficulty  arises  sometimes.  Some  lakes, 
indeed  most  lakes,  have  a  disturbance  that  is 
generally  known  as  "purging,"  when  the  water 
has  a  muddy,  unclean  appearance,  filled  with  tiny 
particles  of  colored  decayed  matter.  On  those  oc- 
casions, which  happen  once  or  several  times  each 


70  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

season,  the  anglers  say  fish  are  off  feed;  and  they 
never  try.  For  generations  they  have  been  given 
to  understand  that  it  is  useless  fishing  a  purging 
lake,  simply  because  their  limit  of  enticing  baits 
begins  and  ends  with  worm  or  fly.  I  hope  these 
chapters  will  furnish  many  good  remedies  worth 
trying. 
In  other  lakes  I  have  found  that  trout  live  en- 
tirely on  bottom  creepers  before  they  develop 
into  the  adult  insect  state.  These  creepers  are  so 
numerous  in  certain  parts  of  the  lake  bottom, 
that  when  in  an  advanced  state  of  growth,  finding 
all  food  gone,  they  devour  each  other.  Various 
species  of  trout  and  landlocked  salmon  at  times 
find  a  glut  of  bottom  food  so  numerous  that  they 
can  feed  to  suffocation  without  effort,  especially 
at  certain  periods  when  a  change  from  the  creeper 
to  winged  insect  occurs.  Lake  Champlain  is  a 
case  in  point.  Enormous  and  vast  are  the  clouds 
of  green  drakes  (known  in  England  as  the  May- 
fly, but  larger  in  size)  flying  over  the  water  every 
season  about  the  first  week  in  June.  Here  is  the 
important  point:  the  bass  for  which  the  lake  is 
famed  have  never  been  known  to  feed  on  the  glut 
of  surface  insects.  Doubtless  they  are  gorged 
with  a  full  share  of  the  creepers  taken  at  the  bed 


BOTTOM  FISH  FOOD  IN  LAKES  71 

of  the  lake.  The  artificial  nymph-creeper  of  this 
insect  should  prove  a  good  bottom  lure  on  such 
occasions  for  bass.  Surely  at  such  times,  a  good 
supply  of  the  creepers  could  be  removed  to  those 
waters  where  they  are  not  common,  in  order  to 
assist  nature  in  a  more  liberal  supply  more  evenly 
distributed. 
This  chapter  is  intended  to  convey  the  truth 
that  if  trout  and  bass  in  lakes  won't  take  flies, 
it  is  entirely  convincing  the  fly  as  a  lure  is  not 
perfect,  and  something  else  can  be  made  to  take 
its  place  that  is  perfect;  at  least,  we  can  make 
the  effort,  and  not  go  home  in  despair  because 
bass  refuse  a  "plug"  or  worm.  The  common  say- 
ing, "Bass  or  trout  are  off  feed,"  is  a  much  mis- 
taken notion.  Both  these  fish  are  feeding,  we  may 
be  sure,  and  if  we  wish  to  get  them,  we  must  at- 
tach to  the  hook  a  lure  that  is  like  the  food  they 
are  taking.  How  much  better,  then,  if  our  lure 
correctly  imitates  their  food,  in  appearance  as  well 
as  in  action,  the  chances  are  to  succeed,  than  if 
we  offer  them  a  bait  they  don't  know  or  don't 
want.  Several  of  the  new  bottom-creeper  lures 
to  my  thinking  are  just  the  thing  to  solve  this 
vexing  problem;  if  they  do  not,  a  small  minnow,, 
cricket,  or  grasshopper  can  be  offered  in  succes- 


72 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


sion  till  the  fish  do  respond.  Heretofore,  outside 
of  live  bait  nothing  was  available  but  plugs, 
worms,  and  flies.  The  angler  who  does  more  learn- 
ing "how"  and  "why"  will  find  his  time  vastly 
more  interesting  than  sitting  waiting  till  fish  are  in 
the  "humor  to  bite."  I  feel  certain  that  bass,  and 
trout  in  particular,  are  always  in  the  humor,  un- 
less they  are  overgorged. 


VI 


NOCTURNAL  FEEDING  OF  GAME-FISH 

Very  numerous  are  the  devices  seen  in  the  tackle 
shops  to  capture  fish  at  night,  most  of  them  being 
a  sort  of  luminous  paint  on  spoons  or  plugs.  Suc- 
cessful or  not,  the  fact  remains  that  at  certain 
times  during  the  season  we  know  almost  all 
game-fish  feed  actively  throughout  the  night  as 
well  as  by  day.  This  habit  is  primarily  due  to  the 
fact  that  nearly  all  bottom  creatures  are  bur- 
rowers  in  the  sand  or  mud,  coming  out  of  their 
hiding-places  only  at  night  when  the  chance  of 
being  captured  by  larger  fish  is  less  sure  than  it 
is  by  daylight.  Crawfish,  lampers,  and  hellgram- 
mites  are  all  nocturnal  creatures,  because  the 
food  they  eat  is  more  abundant  during  the  night. 

73 


74  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

Hiding  by  day  in  the  shallow  sand  or  mud,  they 
may  be  observed  as  soon  as  it  is  dusk  moving 
slowly  around,  and  at  night-time  the  larger  fish 
venture  forth  to  roam  about  and  hunt  for  food. 
In  some  parts  of  the  shallows,  one  may  see  in 
the  morning  hours  the  sandy  bed  strewn  with 
claws  and  remnants  of  crawfish  giving  unmis- 
takable signs  that  game-fish  have  been  feeding. 
Land  insects  and  moths  fly  through  the  air  in 
great  numbers  at  night,  and  the  same  is  true  of 
aquatic  insects,  but  only  in  warm  weather.  In 
the  higher  altitudes  during  May,  and  sometimes 
in  early  parts  of  June,  the  nights  are  cold,  often 
frosty,  which  drives  the  insects  to  shelter  only 
to  resume  flight  when  the  warm  sun  appears. 
That  old  adage,  "The  early  angler  gets  the  fish," 
does  not  apply  to  fly-fishing  in  spring.  All  through 
the  month  of  May  insects  do  not  begin  their  morn- 
ing flight  before  10  a.  m.  For  that  reason,  if  any 
night  feeding  goes  on,  it  is  upon  bottom  creepers 
and  minnows.  Because  of  the  darkness  we  cannot 
of  course  say  of  a  certainty  that  fish  do  feed 
throughout  the  night,  as  we  are  unable  to  see 
them,  and  the  only  clear  proof  that  they  do  is  an 
examination  of  those  fish  captured  shortly  after 
dawn  to  find  undigested  food,  which  I  have  often 


NOCTURNAL  FEEDING  OF  GAME-FISH  75 

done  at  different  parts  of  the  season.  Another 
proof,  if  necessary,  is  found  in  the  successful  re- 
sults of  the  nocturnal  angler.  I  will  give  a  few 
incidents  of  the  numberless  in  my  experience. 

On  a  hot  day  in  July,  accompanied  by  a  well- 
known  dry-fly  expert,  we  fished  diligently  the 
morning  and  afternoon  till  nearly  dark  without 
getting  a  single  fish.  Crossing  a  brook  at  its  junc- 
tion with  the  river,  we  observed  two  youths,  sons 
of  our  hotel  host,  busy  in  the  water  spearing  mud 
minnows  with  a  three-prong  table  fork.  To  our 
passing  remark,  "Going  fishing .f^"  they  replied, 
"Sure."  The  following  morning  our  hostess  dis- 
played two  browns  and  a  rainbow,  three  exceed- 
ingly nice  fish,  plump  and  well-rounded,  fifteen 
inches  long,  caught  on  the  fly  the  previous  eve- 
ning by  her  sons.  These  two  youths,  like  all  ''na- 
tives," keep  their  eyes  open  as  to  the  whereabouts 
of  large  fish;  then  after  dark  know  exactly  where 
to  swim  a  live  minnow  right  past  the  nose  of  these 
fish.  We,  being  supposed  by  other  angling  guests 
to  be  experts,  were  completely  outfished  by  inno- 
cent natives  using  primitive  tackle  and  just  a 
"common  pole."  Many  of  the  so-called  "prize 
fish,"  entered  as  caught  on  a  fly  (name  given), 
are  captured  in  this  nefarious  manner.  One  astute. 


76  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

wily  country  fisherman  gave  a  dollar  to  a  boy 
who  picked  up  along  the  stream  a  dead  brown 
trout  of  eight  pounds'  weight.  This  ''gentleman" 
promptly  secured  two  friends  who  witnessed  and 
signed  as  to  the  weight,  sent  in  measurements, 
caught  on  No.  12  coachman  fly,  and  was  awarded 
first  prize  of  a  tent  and  camp  outfit  for  his  skill 
as  an  angler. 

Returning  to  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  it  is 
doubtful  wisdom  to  cultivate  or  find  means  to 
make  night  fishing  popular.  Wading  and  fly-fish- 
ing is  out  of  the  question,  and  boat-fishing  with 
a  lantern  is  merely  the  capture  of  fish  without  a 
vestige  of  sport  in  the  game.  The  only  really  suc- 
cessful results  are  attained  at  night  by  swimming 
a  live  or  artificial  minnow  down  a  swift  runway 
where  you  know  trout  abide,  and  the  chances 
are  all  too  favorable  of  getting  the  fish.  Lake  fish- 
ing for  bass,  pike,  and  wall-eye  after  dark,  is  prac- 
tised in  many  places  quite  as  much  as  day  fishing, 
mostly  on  trolling  method.  Bait  or  plug  casting 
when  you  cannot  see  is  somewhat  precarious, 
especially  when  line  snags  occur,  which  is  more 
likely  to  happen  than  by  day.  Marine  fishing  is 
highly  successful  by  night.  All  species  of  fish 
migrate  at  night;  salmon,  shad,  and  smelt  ascend 


NOCTURNAL  FEEDING  OF  GAME-FISH  77 

streams  at  night  on  their  way  to  spawn.  In  the 
fall,  trout  lie  around  mouths  of  brooks  till  water 
is  high,  then  start  at  night  for  the  spawning  beds, 
and  when  that  duty  is  done  return  to  the  river 
in  the  same  manner  by  night. 

We  know  for  certain  that  trout  as  well  as  bass 
leave  their  favorite  haunt  in  deep  pools  to  roam 
around  by  night  in  search  of  food,  often  to  the 
shallows  after  minnows.  Most  often  very  large 
trout  are  seen  late  at  dusk  near  the  banks  of  the 
stream  in  six  inches  of  water  (more  or  less),  where 
they  capture  young  frogs,  young  muskrats,  shiners, 
and  other  large-size  food.  On  my  tramp  home 
along  stream  just  before  darkness  sets  in,  I  often 
meet  boys,  youths,  and  men  on  their  way  down- 
stream carrying  a  lantern  and  bait-can  to  a  favor- 
ite rock  where  they  seat  themselves  till  far  into 
the  night  fishing  for  suckers  or  chub,  always  in 
the  hope  of  getting  on  their  coarse  tackle  some 
roaming  trout  or  bass.  They  often  do  capture  very 
large  trout  on  a  big  hook,  on  which  is  impaled 
either  one  big  or  a  bunch  of  small  worms,  which 
is  sunk  to  the  bottom  and  allowed  to  rest  there 
till  taken.  They  know  such  places  are  not  fruitful 
by  day,  because  of  inactive  feeding.  Set  lines 
placed  at  evening  for  river  eels,  baited  with  pieces 


78 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


of  fish  and  worms,  very  often  have  trout  among 
the  catch  when  taken  in  the  following  morning. 
Finally,  we  may  rightfully  conclude  that  all  fish 
do  take  food  of  some  kind  through  the  night  as 
well  as  by  day,  if  food  is  available,  as  we  are  sure 
it  is.  Night  fishing,  so  far  as  results  are  concerned, 
is  perfectly  proper,  and  to  my  thinking  quite  ex- 
cusable to  those  men  limited  to  week-end  vaca- 
tions. If  they  do  spend  part  of  the  night,  say  from 
dark  to  2  a.  m.,  they  are  bound  to  get  some  fish 
for  their  friends  at  home.  Indeed,  they  are  much 
more  likely  to  succeed  thus,  than  by  fishing 
throughout  the  hot  days  in  July  and  August.  If 
they  use  artificial  baits,  success  is  more  sure,  be- 
cause hooking  live  bait  and  keeping  it  in  proper 
trim  is  most  difficult  after  dark. 


VII 


A  DESCRIPTIVE  CHART-PLAN  TO  SHOW  THE 

HAUNTS  WHERE  TROUT  FEED  IN  A 

RUNNING  STREAM 

Trout  fishermen  doubtless  have  often  been  per- 
plexed at  their  non-success  after  all  known  efforts 
have  been  employed — ^when  on  previous  occasions 
they  have  been  lucky  in  the  very  same  water. 
The  eluriveness  of  trout  is  very  marked — ^that 
is,  wild  trout — in  big  water:  rivers  from  four  to 
ten  feet  deep  and  two  hundred  feet  wide,  more 
or  less.  We  do  not  consider  brook  fishing  in  a  foot 
or  so  of  water  containing  trout  that  average  six 
inches,  but  rather  a  river  able  to  sustain  large 
fish  of  four  to  six  pounds,  a  river  that  contains 
ample  fish  food  and  abundance  of  aquatic  insect 

79 


80  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

life.  Some  fishermen,  having  but  a  Hmited  ex- 
perience, will  often  go  to  a  river  that  is  absolutely 
new  to  them,  and  the  problem  is  how  are  they  to 
begin,  the  time  to  fish,  and  to  what  parts  of  such 
a  river  it  is  best  to  devote  their  energies. 

The  angler  of  long  experience  has  a  fund  of 
knowledge  that  gives  him  considerable  advantage 
over  the  amateur.  The  expert  will  know  at  a  glance 
(if  conditions  are  fairly  good)  where  to  cast  his 
fly  to  get  a  trout.  The  amateur  will  cast  anywhere 
and  everywhere  over  the  water  with  more  or  less 
doubtful  success.  For  my  own  part,  I  like  best  to 
fish  a  river  that  I  am  thoroughly  familiar  with,  so 
that  I  can  cover  a  long  stretch  of  half  a  dozen  miles 
in  a  day,  skipping  barren  spots  and  choosing  good 
ones  as  I  go  along.  I  know  others  (George  La 
Branche,  for  instance)  who  much  prefer  a  good 
short  stretch  and  fish  it  thoroughly.  I  am  not 
sure  but  what  he  is  right;  especially  if  he  finds  a 
stretch  of  water  suited  to  his  epicurean  taste. 

Every  fisherman,  if  he  has  not  already  attained 
it,  should  cultivate  the  faculty  of  observation — 
that  is,  the  training  of  the  eye  and  brain  in  con- 
tinued alertness  in  order  to  be  equal  to  the  trout 
in  his  cunning  skill  at  evading  capture.  He  should 
never  permit  his  person  to  be  seen  by  the  trout; 


THE  HAUNTS  WHERE  TROUT  FEED  81 

with  a  wide  sweep  the  eye  should  cover  the  entire 
surface  of  the  water,  even  beyond  casting  dis- 
tance; at  the  same  time  alert  to  note  what  insects 
are  on  the  wing.  These  are  some  of  the  first  im- 
portant duties  of  the  angler  on  arrival  at  the 
stream.  The  most  important  duty  of  all  is  to  ex- 
amine the  aspect  of  the  river,  the  eddies,  run- 
ways, currents,  the  speed  flow,  and  particularly 
the  different  depths  of  water.  By  such  knowledge 
you  learn  the  haunts  where  trout  hide,  though 
you  may  not  see  them.  The  annexed  plan  is  here 
given  to  point  out  the  favorite  haunts  of  trout 
(more  particularly  brown  trout)  in  a  clear  run- 
ning stream  with  rocky  or  gravelly  bottom. 

They  are  the  tail  of  a  stream — ^that  is,  the  end 
of  a  little  rapid,  or  swifter-running  portion  of  the 
current,  as  from  top  D  to  A  in  the  accompanying 
diagram;  the  junction  of  little  rapids  formed  by 
water  passing  round  an  obstruction  in  the  midst 
of  the  general  current,  as  B;  and  such  tracks  as 
C,  where  a  chain  of  bubbles  or  little  floating  ob- 
jects indicates  the  course  of  the  principal  cur- 
rent— which,  of  course,  is  chiefly  dependent  upon 
various  deflections  of  the  water,  by  projecting 
banks,  rocks,  deep  water  passing  swiftly  along, 
and  shoals,  and  may  often  be  guessed  at,  when 


82  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

not  sufficiently  visible,  by  attending  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  banks.  At  roots  of  trees,  or  in  places 
where  the  froth  collects,  and  in  little  whirlpools, 
as  Gy  and  eddies,  trout  will  often  be  found.  All 
such  places  are  by  far  the  most  favorable  for 
sport;  for  insects  follow  the  same  course  as  the 
bubbles,  etc.,  and  are  there  sought  by  the  fish. 
They  never  frequent  sandy  shoals  as  at  7.  It  will 
be  most  often  found  the  larger  trout  are  on  the 
scours  or  shallows,  as  at  D,  in  the  night,  chasing 
minnows  and  other  small  fish.  The  greatest  num- 
ber of  large-size  trout  gather  together  behind  one 
another  just  below  a  swift  rapid,  as  at  H.  In  the 
day  they  are  cautiously  watching  for  food  in  deep 
holes,  under  hollow  banks,  or  roots  of  trees  or  in 
the  angles  of  rocks,  as  E,  In  May  and  June,  when 
fish  are  lusty  and  plump,  they  are  also  to  be  found 
in  the  more  rapid  parts  of  the  water,  as  F, 
These  remarks,  although  not  strictly  applicable 
to  the  trout  of  every  stream,  will  be  found  useful 
for  such  streams  as  the  Esopus,  Neversink,  Wil- 
lowemoc,  and  Beaverkill,  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  This  plan  has  been  adapted  to  our  use  from 
one  given  in  Ronalds's  Fly-Fisher's  Entomology, 
which  specially  refers  to  the  English  trout,  Salmo 
fanio,  the  same  species  as  our  own  brown  trout. 


c(X      RAPID  "/?? 

^CU\             PEEP  //./ 

WATER  ♦  1. 

Wi  "    V 


^ 


RAPID 
BEEPS 


:(&^pooL 


lA's^.^sj!^-- 


.^^ 


^j^OCK^, 


V/ATER~HJQ"W  FROn  TOP  TO  BOTTOM  OF  STREAM 


Plan  of  current  formations  in  a  winding  stream — the  haunts  trout  choose  to 
lie  in  in  wait  for  passing  food 


84  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

When  you  observe  trout  rising  to  feed,  it  is  quite 
a  simple  matter  to  place  your  artificial  fly  on  the 
spot,  while  the  fish  is  down,  and  if  properly  placed, 
the  right  pattern  offered,  it  will  quickly  respond, 
particularly  if  you  cast  up-stream.  By  so  doing 
you  take  much  less  chance  of  being  seen  by  the 
fish.  But  what  we  most  desire  to  overcome  is  a 
situation  when  trout  are  not  visibly  feeding,  which 
is  most  often  the  rule.  A  still  more  difiicult  prob- 
lem is,  in  June,  when  insects  are  overabundant 
on  the  surface,  to  succeed  in  enticing  the  fish  to 
take  your  imitation.  There  is  still  another  situa- 
tion where  in  July  and  August  flies  become  scarce, 
and  natural  bait  is  being  consumed  on  the  bottom 
and  at  the  surface.  In  this  condition  crickets, 
grasshoppers,  caterpillars,  and  small  minnows  can 
be  floated  down  along  the  surface  to  good  effect, 
and  at  the  bottom  the  trout-hellgrammite,  caddis- 
creeper,  and  nymph  may  be  fished  by  my  new 
method  with  much  greater  success  than  could  be 
attained  with  the  artificial  fly  which  this  chart  is 
intended  to  assist. 
After  consulting  Chapter  XII,  How  to  Use  Nature 
Lures,  we  start  in  to  fish  down-stream  at  the  sur- 
face with  a  cricket  or  grasshopper  as  bait  attached 
to  a  six-foot  leader,  and  cast  out  just  the  same 


THE  HAUNTS  WHERE  TROUT  FEED  80 

as  you  would  a  fly.  Standing  on  the  sand-bar  at 
/,  you  cast  across-stream  to  D,  let  out  line  that  it 
may  float  along  the  surface  past  the  fish  to  F, 
Reeling  in,  you  guide  the  bait  along  in  past  the 
tree-trunk  to  A,  Still  retaining  the  same  position, 
you  permit  the  water  flow  to  take  it  along,  guid- 
ing it  to  go  in  the  path  of  bubbles.  A,  H,  C,  and 
G.  You  may  skip  the  rapid,  deep-water  pool,  and 
reel  your  bait  slowly  back  to  you,  though  at  times 
you  should  give  the  bait  a  short  jerk,  and  let  it 
run  back  a  yard  or  so;  in  other  words,  give  as 
much  natural-life  movement  to  the  artificial  as 
the  live  bait  naturally  possesses.  After  reeling 
the  bait  entirely  back,  you  may  start  over  and 
repeat  the  cast,  or  walk  down  and  take  a  position 
at  C,  then  cast  across  the  deep  water  to  the  first 
fish  at  the  head  of  the  rapid  deeps  and  so  let  the 
bait  float  along  the  bubbles  to  F  or  below.  Then 
work  the  bait  back  along  the  line  of  bubbles  past 
the  whirlpool,  working  the  bait  just  inside  the 
brook.  Then  let  it  run  down  again  to  F  and  back 
toward  you  along  the  bubbles  past  G  to  C, 

During  this  course  you  will  probably  have  had 
strikes  in  different  situations,  and  with  the  way 
to  handle  it  this  chapter  has  nothing  to  do.  The 
new  position  you  should  take  is  to  stand  in  the 


86  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

middle  of  the  brook  and  let  the  bait  float  round 
the  whirlpool  to  G,  then  reel  back.  Drop  your  bait 
in  the  bubbles,  let  it  float  past  F  to  A,  and  guide 
it  along  nearly  to  the  rock  and  back.  Cast  again 
to  first  fish  at  head  of  rapid  deeps,  and  so  work 
it  to  A  and  to  G  and  return.  The  next  position 
to  take  is  just  above  sand-bar  /  at  C,  where  you 
cast  across  to  the  rock,  running  along  the  bubbles 
on  both  sides  one  after  the  other,  and  reel  back. 
A  short  cast  in  the  ripples  at  B  and  return,  then 
a  long  cast  to  the  bubbles  at  opposite  side,  run- 
ning down  to  the  rock  E  and  return.  A  fresh  cast 
to  E  from  a  new  standpoint  on  the  sand-bar  7, 
where  you  work  round  the  rocks,  then  let  it  run 
down  the  bubbles  to  F  and  below — then  back — ■ 
making  a  fresh  cast  to  the  head  of  the  rapids  be- 
low sand-bar,  you  float  along  to  the  end  and  back. 
This  short  descriptive  plan  of  what  part  to  fish 
and  what  to  avoid,  is  very  typical  of  most  parts 
of  a  running  stream.  Being  particular  that  bubbles 
be  your  guide,  you  cannot  go  wrong  on  a  stream 
with  its  many  varied  trout  haunts.  Don't  be  de- 
ceived by  what  looks  like  a  nice  smooth,  deep 
pool.  Trout  are  in  their  favorite  aerated  water 
at  each  side  of  such  a  place,  while  the  pool  itself 
is  usually  the  abode  of  suckers  and  chub.  Re- 


THE  HAUNTS  WHERE  TROUT  FEED  87 

member  you  are  fishing  with  floating  baits  that 
obediently  follow  where  you  lead  them.  You  are 
not  trying  to  show  how  beautifully  you  can  cock 
a  dry-fly  on  smooth  water;  you  are  doggedly,  yet 
intelligently,  stalking  trout  under  most  adverse 
conditions.  Have  no  fear  the  lure  w411  do  its  part 
to  float,  and  to  follow  where  you  lead  it. 

We  shall  now  go  over  exactly  the  same  ground 
with  bottom  lure,  weighted  with  lead,  and  fish 
with  a  different  rig — a  shorter  line,  and  greater 
difficulties  to  contend  with.  Again  please  consult 
Chapter  XII  as  to  the  proper  way  to  use  the  rig 
and  method  for  bottom  fishing.  Assuming  we 
have  two  baits  on,  tied,  one  twelve  inches  above 
the  round  sinker  at  the  end,  which  is  a  trout- 
hellgrammite,  the  other  a  little  one-and-half-inch 
terror  minnow,  with  these  you  cast  to  the  various 
places  previously  mentioned.  If  the  water  is  swift 
enough  to  carry  the  lead  gradually  forward,  make 
a  series  of  "pumps,"  i.  e.,  lift  the  rod  high  up  and 
drop  the  lead  farther  forward.  While  the  surface 
method  practically  does  its  own  work  by  aid  of 
the  water  flow,  the  bottom  method  requires  you 
to  move  oftener  from  place  to  place  in  order  to 
put  your  baits  in  the  right  positions,  especially 
so  near  by  a  rock,  or  curves  in  the  bubbles.  In 


88  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

fact,  bottom  fishing  by  this  method  is  a  sort  of 
bait-casting  and  fly-casting  combined. 

The  prime  object  of  this  chapter  is  not  h(yw  to 
fish  but  where  to  fish,  and  to  attain  the  best  re- 
sults, you  should  have  previously  studied  those 
chapters  describing  the  right  tackle  and  the  right 
method,  with  pictures  explaining  fully  what  is 
necessary  to  be  known. 

Many  fishermen  have  the  mistaken  idea  that 
trout  lie  at  or  near  the  surface.  Trout  most  in- 
variably lie  at,  or  near  the  bottom,  darting  to 
the  surface  for  food  and  returning  immediately. 
But  that  is  no  reason  why  the  greatest  care  should 
not  be  taken  to  avoid  being  observed  by  the  fish. 
Trout  run  up  from  their  haunts  at  the  bottom 
in  an  almost  perpendicular  line,  never  running 
far  forward  or  backward  to  the  domains  of  other 
fish.  They  are  always  poised  with  nose  facing  the 
water  flow.  By  reason  of  its  great  shyness  it  is 
extremely  difficult  to  obtain  accurate  knowledge 
of  its  habits  by  ocular  demonstration.  I  have  seen 
trout  in  a  stationary  position,  in  which  it  main- 
tains itself  in  the  most  rapid  streams.  Even  the 
tail,  which  is  known  to  be  the  principal  means 
of  propulsion,  can  scarcely  be  observed  to  move, 
and  the  fins,  which  are  used  to  balance  it,  seem 


THE  HAUNTS  WHERE  TROUT  FEED  89 

quite  useless,  excepting  when  it  sees  a  minnow; 
then  it  will  dart  with  the  greatest  velocity  through 
the  opposing  current  at  its  prey,  and  quickly  re- 
turn. 

The  station  which  it  occupies  in  this  manner 
is  invariably  well  chosen.  Should  a  favorite  haunt 
where  food  is  concentrated  by  the  current  be  rather 
crowded  by  its  fellows,  it  will  prefer  contending 
or  fighting  with  them  for  a  share  of  it,  to  residing 
long  in  an  unfruitful  situation.  A  large  trout  will 
chiefly  frequent  one  place  during  all  the  season, 
in  fact,  for  several  seasons,  if  not  molested  or 
caught.  When  caught,  after  a  few  hours  the  situa- 
tion is  taken  by  another,  usually  a  much  smaller 
fish.  You  are  sure  to  capture  the  largest  fish  where 
food  is  most  abundant.  It  is  indeed  fortunate 
that  the  majority  of  big  trout  forage  about  from 
place  to  place  after  nightfall  to  prey  upon  min- 
nows, otherwise  the  artful  "native"  angler  would 
soon  capture  them  after  dark,  on  minnows  or 
big  worms  in  their  favorite  haunts  he  knows  so 
well. 


VIII 


A  DESCRIPTIVE  CHART-PLAN  OF  LAKE  WHERE 
FISH  ABIDE  WHEN  FEEDING 

We  shall  now  specifically  describe  where  bass 
and  pike  are  generally  wont  to  abide,  the  kind 
of  food  they  take,  the  proper  baits  to  use,  and 
the  whereabouts  we  may  try  for  them  in  lakes 
and  ponds. 

In  shallow  waters  with  muddy  bottoms,  induc- 
ing the  growth  of  weeds,  grass,  and  lilies,  in  from 
four  to  fifteen  feet  of  water,  we  find  that  the  fish 
food  is  mostly  frogs,  numerous  aquatic  insects, 
and  their  larvae,  which  include  dragon-flies,  darn- 
ing-needles, flying-grasshoppers,  and  the  jumpers, 
shrimps,  shell-fish,  beetles,  and  various  bottom 
creepers.  In  deep  waters,  having  no  aquatic  sur- 

90 


WHERE  FISH  ABIDE  WHEN  FEEDING  91 

face  growth,  with  rocky  bottoms  and  certain  parts 
composed  of  pebbles  and  sand,  upon  which  grow 
isolated  tufts  of  aquatic  weeds  and  bottom  grass, 
the  fish  food  is  mostly  numerous  species  of  min- 
nows, perch,  sunfish,  and  the  young  of  larger 
species,  hellgrammites  and  crawfish. 
Where  a  rocky  plateau  rises  abruptly  above  the 
surface,  from  deep  water  or  an  island,  the  chances 
are  that  bass  prefer  to  locate  a  few  yards  from 
it.  Bass  and  pike  do  not  usually  lie  in  deep  water 
at  the  middle  of  a  lake  or  pond,  where  the  depth 
is  over  thirty  feet.  A  safe  distance  from  the  side 
to  fish  is  from  fifteen  to  thirty  feet,  more  or  less. 
Wall-eyed  pike  usually  prefer,  and  are  mostly 
caught,  in  the  deeper  parts.  Lake-trout  haunt  the 
deeps,  sometimes  from  one  hundred  feet  to  greater 
depths,  rising  to  the  surface  in  the  spring  to  prey 
on  lake  shiners  and  other  minnows.  Landlocked 
salmon,  like  bass,  choose  waters  of  a  medium 
depth,  congregating  in  parts  where  food  is  most 
abundant;  much,  however,  depends  upon  the 
nature  of  the  food  taken.  In  all  instances  food 
controls  the  situation;  the  habits  are  entirely 
subservient  to  the  food  problem.  Many  excep- 
tional cases  are,  of  course,  always  evident,  and 
the  reader  must  consider  them  when  descriptions 


92  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

are  given  to  cover  so  wide  and  varied  a  subject, 
and  many  different  species  of  fish  with  widely 
different  habits. 

The  annexed  combination  plan  of  different  lake 
conditions  is  an  attempt  to  show  at  a  glance  the 
probable  places  and  most  likely  spots  where  bass 
and  pike  are  usually  found,  also  the  food  they 
take  and  the  different  baits  suited  to  those  con- 
ditions. Neither  bass  nor  pike  are  by  nature  wan- 
derers; they  never  stray  far  from  the  chosen  local- 
ity; and  when  this  has  once  been  chosen — always 
with  a  view  to  the  best  feeding-ground — they 
stay  there,  unless  their  food-supply  by  some  reason 
is  cut  off — ^as,  for  instance,  when  bottom  creepers, 
like  hellgrammites,  have  changed  to  the  adult 
state.  Then  a  new  food-supply  is  sought — ^min- 
nows, frogs,  and  other  foods.  In  lakes  of  large 
extent,  like  Chautauqua,  the  home  of  the  banded 
muskellunge  {Lucius  ohiensis),  the  fish  food-sup- 
ply is  ample,  not  only  for  the  muskellunge,  but 
for  bass  and  other  fish,  so  that  little  or  no  change 
of  feeding-ground  is  necessary.  Then  again,  after 
the  young  have  grown  to  a  fair  size,  cannibalism 
provides  considerable  food  for  various  species, 
notably  bass,  pickerel,  pike,  and  muskellunge. 
The  prolific  perch,  which  by  some  means  or  other 


^    id 


••^' 


Lake  plan  to  show  where  bass  and  pike  take  their  natural  food 


94  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

is  found  in  every  lake  and  pond,  furnishes  prob- 
ably more  fish  food  than  any  one  other  species, 
with  the  sunfishes  a  good  second. 
As  stated  in  the  previous  chapter  concerning 
trout,  the  same  rule  applies  to  other  fishes;  that 
is,  the  largest  fish  are  always  found  where  food 
is  most  abundant.  If  fish  stay  where  food  is  scarce, 
it  is  only  because  they  are  unable  to  do  better 
or  to  migrate  elsewhere.  In  describing  the  annexed 
lake  plan,  beginning  at  the  inlet.  A,  which  is  usually 
sandy  shallows  and  the  part  where  minnows  and 
other  small  fishes  congregate — it  will  often  be 
found  that  schools  of  bass  haunt  that  section, 
especially  at  evenings,  going  back  to  deeper  water 
in  the  daytime.  Crawfish  often  choose  to  make 
their  abiding-place  in  the  shallows  close  to  the 
fresh  cool  water  flowing  in  the  lake.  Among  the 
roots  of  submerged  tree  trunks,  at  5,  is  the  favorite 
haunt  of  pickerel,  and  sometimes  large  bass.  In 
such  a  place  frogs  and  hellgrammites  choose  to 
live  and  breed;  the  frogs  along  the  shore,  the  hell- 
grammites close  by  rotting  wood.  Following  the 
shore-line  we  gradually  get  to  shallower  water 
where  grass  and  weeds  appear,  growing  just  above 
or  lying  on  the  surface,  till  we  come  to  the  deeper 
water  of  the  lily-pads,  at  C,  Here  the  water  may 


WHERE  FISH  ABIDE  WHEN  FEEDING  95 

be  from  four  to  twelve  feet  deep,  where  the  larger 
fish — ^pike,  pickerel,  and  bass — ^take  toll  of  both 
surface  and  bottom  food :  frogs,  minnows,  various 
bottom  creepers  that  live  and  thrive  near  heavy 
aquatic  vegetation,  flying  insects  and  grasshoppers 
that  make  their  feeding-places  on  or  about  the 
broad  leaves  of  the  water-lilies — ^where  the  pickerel 
and  bass  lying  below  frequently  rise  to  get  food. 

Round  about  the  grassy  weeds,  at  Z),  is  a  favorite 
lair  for  pike,  bass,  and  pickerel,  in  water  from 
four  to  six  feet  deep.  They  are  always  alert  to 
pounce  on  frogs,  perch,  larvae  and  adult  dragon- 
flies,  also  many  flying  and  jumping  grasshoppers. 
In  shallower  water,  where  tall  grass  and  weeds 
grow  above  the  surface  nearer  the  outlet,  is  usually 
good  fishing  with  frogs,  grasshoppers,  and  crickets. 
If  the  outlet  is  shallow,  the  food  taken  is  mostly 
minnows.  When  the  edge  of  the  lake,  and  the  bot- 
tom for  some  distance  out,  is  rocky,  as  at  F,  many 
bottom  creepers  live  and  breed.  Hellgrammites 
and  crawfish  are  plentiful  in  such  a  situation. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  rocky  plateau,  G,  if  entirely 
under  water,  but  should  it  rise  above  the  surface, 
making  a  small  island,  minnows  and  frogs  furnish 
additional  food.  From  G  down  to  the  inlet,  the 
water  running  gradually  deeper  all  along  from 


96  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

shore,  numerous  minnows  congregate  near  the 
shore.  It  will  thus  be  apparent  that  the  wise  and 
observing  angler  will  do  well  to  think  awhile  be- 
fore beginning  to  fish  in  unfamiliar  water,  and  he 
will  soon  become  aware  that  lake  conditions — 
that  is,  deep  or  shallow,  weedy  or  bare  of  aquatic 
growth — ^have  much  to  do  with  the  intelligent 
pursuit  of  his  favorite  sport;  that  in  some  lakes 
frogs  are  plentiful — in  others  not  at  all.  He  can, 
however,  be  well  assured  that  minnows  and  other 
fish  food  of  various  sizes  are  the  chief  diet  in  al- 
most any  lake  or  pond  for  all  species  of  game- 
fish. 

We  shall  now  proceed  to  do  a  little  surface  fish- 
ing by  casting  artificial  baits  from  the  shore  as 
we  walk  round  the  lake,  beginning  at  the  inlet.  A, 
Attaching  a  three-inch  bass-terror  minnow,  we 
cast  from  A  all  round  the  inlet,  as  far  out  as  it 
is  possible,  reeling  in  the  lure  almost  to  our  feet 
every  time.  Moving  our  position,  we  then  cast 
the  minnow  round  about  the  tree  trunks,  at  B, 
If  we  don't  succeed  with  minnows,  we  change  our 
lure  and  put  on  the  frog,  a  brown  color,  because 
that  color  is  most  likely  to  imitate  frogs  which 
abide  in  such  a  situation.  Whether  we  succeed 
or  not,  we  continue  to  cast  the  frog  among  the 


WHERE  FISH  ABmE  WHEN  FEEDING  97 

submerged  logs  for  pickerel,  and  out  farther  for 
bass,  moving  alongshore  until  we  come  to  grassy 
shallows  and  try  with  a  large-size  grasshopper 
for  both  pickerel  and  bass,  casting  first  near  shore, 
gradually  farther  out  to  where  the  bass  lie,  at 
dotted  line.  From  the  corner  bend  below  C  we 
again  change  our  lure  to  a  green  frog  and  try  for 
the  pike  lying  below  the  lily-pads.  Going  round 
the  other  bend,  we  cast  toward  D  for  pickerel 
and  farther  out  to  the  bass,  at  dotted  line. 

Walking  around,  crossing  the  outlet,  at  E,  we 
there  take  a  stand.  Changing  our  green  frog  to 
a  brown  one,  we  cast  to  F,  quite  near  shore,  and 
as  far  out  to  G  as  we  can.  Walking  down  along- 
shore from  F  we  change  our  lure  again  to  a  min- 
now. If  our  previous  effort  with  a  minnow  at  the 
inlet,  where  we  commenced,  was  effective  in  getting 
fish,  we  choose  the  same  size  minnow;  if  not,  we 
try  one  smaller  in  size,  a  little  two-inch  darter, 
an  imitation  of  a  silverside.  Casting  to  the  dotted 
line,  we  proceed  alongshore,  till  we  come  again 
to  the  inlet.  Should  it  happen  that  weather  and 
season  conditions  are  right,  and  we  get  a  fair  bag 
of  fish,  we  content  ourselves  with  not  making 
changes  in  the  lures.  If  otherwise,  we  change  from 
large  to  small,  and  different  colors  of  lures,  but 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


we  firmly  cling  to  the  use  of  exact  imitations  of 
the  fish  food  located  on  the  chart. 

We  then  choose  another  day,  with  favorable 
weather,  to  try  bottom  fishing  from  a  boat,  with 
a  different  rig  that  has  a  sinker  attachment  to 
carry  the  floating  lures  near  the  bottom,  using 
the  same  lures  with  the  addition  of  the  hellgram- 
mite  and  crawfish.  If  the  wind  blows  and  we  have 
jQo  oarsman,  we  row  out  beyond  the  dotted  line 
to  about  fifty  feet  from  shore,  to  anchor  in  selected 
places.  We  can  begin  by  trying  the  rocky  plateau, 
about  fifteen  feet  out  in  the  lake,  from  G,  using 
as  bait  the  crawfish  and  casting  from  place  to 
place  till  a  strike  occurs.  If  not,  we  take  up  anchor 
and  row  around  the  line  toward  F,  still  fishing 
with  the  crawfish.  From  that  we  can  change  and 
try  the  hellgrammite  in  various  rocky  spots, 
changing  the  baits  if  unsuccessful,  and  continue 
fishing  with  baits  that  get  success.  From  F,  we 
row  across  to  within  fifteen  feet  of  dotted  line, 
at  D,  with  green  frog  as  lure,  changing  again 
to  grasshopper  and  minnow  if  no  success  occurs. 
Should  you  desire  to  fish  exclusively  for  bass,  it 
will  perhaps  be  best  to  fish  the  dotted  line  with 
a  varied  assortment  of  minnows,  trying  a  change 
to  hellgrammites  and  crawfish  at  such  places  as 


WHERE  FISH  ABIDE  WHEN  FEEDING  99 

B  and  F,  If  you  are  not  successful  in  casting,  and 
consider  you  might  have  more  luck  in  trolling, 
you  row  along  the  deep-water  chart  line,  using  a 
large-size  minnow  as  lure.  Neither  the  frog  nor 
crawfish  is  suitable  for  trolling,  but  with  a  light 
sinker  you  can  troll  with  excellent  results  by  using 
the  hellgrammites,  minnows,  and  large-size  grass- 
hoppers; and  also  the  large-size  cricket  is  almost 
certain  to  get  bass. 

By  nature,  bass  are  pugnacious,  impetuous, 
Rooseveltian  fighters,  jealous  of  any  moving  ob- 
ject that  resembles  food  within  their  vision,  fol- 
lowing after  the  lure  for  a  considerable  distance, 
to  take  or  not  to  take.  The  inactive  response  of 
bass  to  our  lures  is  not  due  to  overfeeding,  but 
rather  to  peculiar  traits,  in  their  habits. 

Muskellunge,  pike,  and  pickerel,  also  wall-eye, 
usually  take  a  position  and  lie  still  at  a  distance 
of  two  feet  (more  or  less)  from  the  bottom,  to 
run  up  and  down,  as  the  case  may  be,  when,  upon 
observing  their  prey,  they  dart  like  lightning 
after  it,  to  return  to  the  same  spot  to  gorge  it. 
Sometimes,  to  be  sure,  we  observe  members  of 
the  Lucius  family  lying  still,  basking  in  the  sun 
near  the  surface,  close  to  or  under  some  heavy 
aquatic  vegetation.  At  such  periods  they  are  not 


100  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

generally  responsive  to  any  lure,  though  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  if  an  exact  imitation  of  their  natural 
food  was  moved  within  their  vision  they  would 
dart  for  it  instantly. 

Some  species  of  game-fishes  have  periods  of  in- 
active feeding.  This  largely  depends  upon  the 
weather,  the  season,  and  the  time  of  day,  par- 
ticularly is  it  so  of  trout,  muskellunge  and  bass. 
At  times,  they  seem  to  be  utterly  indifferent  for 
a  period;  then,  all  of  a  sudden  (as  if  a  general  com- 
manded them  to  fall  to),  they  begin  in  right  good 
earnest  to  feed;  not  isolated  cases,  but  every  one 
of  them.  If  you  are  at  all  observing  you  will  often 
notice,  shortly  after  sundown,  a  strange  dearth 
of  insects.  Then  the  wind  goes  down,  and  all  at 
once  the  air  is  full  of  them,  and  the  placid  water, 
so  quiet  before,  bubbles  all  over  with  rising  trout. 
This  does  not  only  appear  in  a  limited  area,  but 
inquiries  have  revealed  the  fact  that  anglers  fish- 
ing at  the  same  time  twenty  miles  up  and  down 
stream  experienced  exactly  the  change  we  had. 

I  have  noticed  this  same  apathy  in  bass,  when  I 
tried  every  means  to  induce  them  at  the  period 
when  I  used  live  bait;  and  in  disgust  I  determined 
to  quit — ^when  they  suddenly  responded  and  I 
filled  my  basket  in  quick  order.  An  instance  of 


Muskellunge  feeding  on  minnows 


WHERE  FISH  ABIDE   WHEN  FEEDING  101 

this  kind  occurred  late  in  July  this  year,  when  I 
caught  fourteen  bass  in  rapid  succession  on  my 
small  artificial  crawfish,  without  moving  an  inch 
from  the  place  I  was  fishing.  I  once  fished  diligently 
for  muskellunge  in  Chautauqua  Lake  for  four 
successive  days  without  a  single  strike,  under  the 
guidance  of  a  local  expert,  the  lake  and  fish  being 
a  new  experience  to  me.  Then  trying  the  fifth,  a 
rainy  day,  I  caught  three  in  two  hours,  18  pounds, 
13  pounds,  and  9  pounds  in  weight,  which  fully 
repaid  me  in  splendid  battles  with  leaping  fish 
for  my  patient  endeavors. 


IX 

GAME-FISH    THAT  LEAP  ABOVE   THE   SURFACE 
ON  A  RESTRAINING  LINE 

Of  the  many  fishes  in  American  waters  there  are 
only  fifteen  that  invariably  rise  above  the  sur- 
face when  they  feel  the  tension  of  a  restraining 
line.  "These  are  the  salmon  (both  sea  and  land- 
locked), the  black  bass,  the  rainbow  trout,  the 
banded  muskellunge  of  the  Ohio  Basins,  the  gray- 
ling, and  occasionally  the  black-spotted  trout  of 
Western  waters.  Of  the  salt-water  fishes  that  leap, 
there  are  only  the  tarpon,  ladyfish,  Spanish 
mackerel,  the  kingfish  of  southern  seas,  and  the 
needle-fish  of  Key  West,  which  is  the  most  skilful 
acrobat  of  them  all,  either  in  fresh  or  salt  water, 
often  making  double  somersaults."  Such  are  the 

102 


GAME-FISH  THAT  LEAP  ABOVE  THE  SURFACE    103 

words  of  a  famous  practical  angler  of  fifty  years' 
experience,  and  I  quote  him  because  my  own — 
small  compared  to  his — exactly  coincides,  except 
that  he  fails  to  mention  several  game-fish  named 
by  Doctor  Holden  at  Catalina  Island,  Cal.,  which 
include  the  tuna,  swordfish,  and  several  others — 
which  is  due  to  the  list  having  been  made  previous 
to  that  time.  He  also  leaves  out  what  has  since 
become  one  of  our  most  famous  fresh-water  game- 
fishes — the  brown  trout  (Salmo  fario),  best  known 
in  many  localities  as  the  German  trout,  because 
it  was  introduced  into  American  waters  by  Von 
Behr. 

But  the  brown  trout  is  not  German,  having  been 
famous  in  England  centuries  before  such  a  place 
as  Germany  came  to  be  what  it  is,  and  we  hope 
to  change  the  name  to  British  trout.  Many  anglers 
will  grade  their  conceptions  of  real  sport  by  the 
practice  of  fish  leaping,  and  with  reason  too,  for 
here  he  makes  his  supreme  and  final  effort  to  escape 
from  the  barb;  not  because  it  gives  him  pain,  but 
because  it  restrains  his  freedom.  The  hook  nearly 
always  pierces  the  spongy,  muscular  skin  of  the 
upper  lip  when  the  artificial  fly  is  used,  and  some- 
times when  live  bait  is  used,  though  in  the  case 
of  bass  and  pike,  when  allowed  to  gorge  live  bait. 


104  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

such  as  frogs  and  minnows,  the  hook  naturally 
pierces  a  tender  part,  and  the  fish  at  once  tries 
to  eject  it.  As  he  cannot  do  so,  owing  to  the  water's 
resistance,  he  tries  to  leap  over  it,  and  by  doing  so 
often  succeeds  in  ridding  himself  of  the  offending 
hook  with  his  hard  bony  tongue. 

In  the  whole  domain  of  nature  the  lives  and 
habits  of  fish  are  least  known,  because  least  seen. 
In  captivity  their  movements  are  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  wild  state,  so  that  it  is  to 
practical  anglers  more  than  to  scientific  men  that 
we  look  for  the  information  of  this  chapter.  A 
number  of  game-fish  leap  in  play,  or  for  their 
food.  Salmon  are  constantly  seen  making  a  bow- 
like curve  in  the  air  two  feet  from  the  water  and 
then  slipping  back  with  barely  a  splash.  I  have 
seen  brook-trout  {fontinalis)  leap  in  a  like  manner, 
sometimes  only  half  out  of  the  water  for  a  fly, 
then  again,  seemingly  in  pure  wanton  joyous- 
ness,  though  I  have  very  rarely  had  a  brook-trout 
leap  out  after  being  hooked.  It  will  dash  hither 
and  thither,  but  always  under  and  low  down,  in 
short  turns  and  quick  darts.  Bass  break  water 
more  often  than  trout;  in  fact,  it  is  rare  when 
they  do  not.  Once  being  aware  of  restraint,  they 
leap  one  to  nine  times  before  being  subdued. 


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GAME-FISH  THAT  LEAP  ABOVE  THE  SURFACE    105 

On  quiet  evenings  we  observe  bass  (where  they 
are  plentiful)  rising  clear  from  the  placid  water 
surface,  both  in  play  and  when  trying  to  catch 
insects — ^large  moths,  and  even  birds  on  the  wing. 
It  is  very  different  wdth  the  muskellunge,  whose 
food  lies  entirely  below  the  surface,  and  his  leap 
is  of  bull-like  ferocity  and  fierce  anger  at  the 
unusual  restraint  of  the  line.  When  he  leaps  it 
is  like  slipping  out  and  sliding  along  like  an  arrow 
which  has  touched  the  water  and  is  gliding  above 
the  surface.  His  long  heavy  body  prevents  his 
making  a  graceful  curve  like  that  of  the  salmon, 
whose  leap  is  sidewise,  and  he  makes  an  upright 
movement  instead.  In  nearly  all  cases  it  is  fish 
who  feed  on  or  near  the  surface  that  make  leaps 
from  the  water  after  being  hooked,  and  all  have 
a  strikingly  different  method  of  doing  it.  The 
bass  and  ouananiche  are  very  similar  in  their  way 
of  resisting  capture.  They  shoot  straight  out  and 
for  a  moment  their  whole  bodies  quiver;  then, 
turning,  dive  or  slide  back  and  disappear  beneath 
the  surface.  By  doing  this  they  very  often  suc- 
ceed in  ridding  themselves  of  the  hook,  especially 
if  the  water  is  running  swiftly  and  the  line  is  not 
taut.  In  such  waters  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  land 
the  fish  that  makes  a  run  toward  the  angler  and 


106  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

then  breaks  to  the  surface  close  in.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  he  runs  away  to  break,  the  Hne  will  often 
have  sufficient  tension  to  keep  him  on  the  hook. 
The  natural  habit  of  leaping  for  insects  is  to  their 
undoing,  for  it  gives  the  angler  an  opportunity 
to  cast  right  to  the  spot  where  they  lie  when  feed- 
ing, and  if  the  flies  cast  are  in  any  way  similar  to 
the  natural  insect  on  the  water  they  are  bound  to 
rise  to  the  feathery  lure — ^and  so  the  sport  be- 
gins. 

Only  last  spring  I  was  fortunate  to  see  a  number 
of  trout  rising  in  a  placid  pool,  and  able  to  get 
near  enough  to  cast  to  the  spot  without  being 
seen.  I  succeeded  in  landing  one  after  the  other 
till  nineteen  lusty  brook-trout  graced  the  sward 
beside  me.  The  cast  being  a  long  one,  they  were 
brought  to  the  net  away  from  the  rest  without 
difficulty,  no  obstacles  being  in  the  way,  so  the 
remainder  were  unaware  of  the  danger;  trout 
are  bold  and  brave  to  rise  at  lure,  yet  equally 
timid  at  sight  of  angler.  Had  they  been  bass,  I 
doubt  if  the  same  thing  could  have  been  done, 
because  in  leaping  from  the  water  with  their  mad 
rushes  they  would  have  scared  the  rest  away, 
at  least  from  feeding  for  a  time. 

The  angry  leap  of  any  game-fish  is  a  constant 


GAME-FISH  THAT  LEAP  ABOVE  THE  SURFACE    107 

source  of  excitement  to  the  angler,  even  if  he  be 
a  veteran  at  the  game,  because  of  a  possible  break 
or  escape  by  throwing  off  the  hook  and  getting 
away.  Every  fisherman  looks  on  with  admira- 
tion, and,  especially  if  he  be  a  fair  sportsman,  will 
often  give  them  a  chance  to  use  their  cunning 
skill  in  getting  away  to  fight  again  later  on;  for 
every  angler  knows  well  that  most  fish  which 
escape  are  very  likely  to  be  taken  later  on  in  the 
same  spot.  As  the  angler  approaches  a  quiet  pool 
at  sundown,  his  blood  tingles  at  the  sight  of  a 
number  of  fish  rising  to  surface  insects.  There  is 
nothing  slow  in  getting  together  rod  and  tackle. 
So  impatient  is  he  to  cast  his  lure  right  among 
them,  being  fully  aware  that  the  rise  may  last 
but  a  few  minutes,  that  he  is  often  unduly  care- 
less of  his  fly  attachments  and  runs  the  risk  of 
losing  what  he  might  get  in  a  calmer  mood. 
The  fish  may  be  browns  or  rainbows,  both  game 
to  the  core.  I  am  unable  to  conceive  anything 
more  gamy  than  a  rainbow  -of  medium  size,  six- 
teen inches  or  thereabout.  The  exceeding  rapidity 
of  continuous  leaps,  sometimes  wide  apart;  the 
extraordinary  fear,  or  perhaps  anger,  displayed, 
and  the  many  devious,  skilful  devices  they  show 
in  efforts  to  get  away,  are  one  long  wonder  and 


108  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

surprise  to  us.  I  have  found  in  the  right  water 
that  rainbows  far  exceed  in  brilHant  aggressiveness 
either  the  ouananiche  or  bass;  their  movements 
are  more  rapid  and  their  leaps  more  frequent. 

I  am  perhaps  unusually  fortunate  in  fishing 
water  where,  in  the  matter  of  leaping,  the  brown 
trout  is  a  good  second  to  the  rainbow,  but  there 
are  many  who  hold  contrary  opinions  to  this, 
especially  bass  admirers,  some  of  whom  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  make  positive  assertions  that 
brown  trout  don't  leap  at  all;  that  they  are  lazy, 
fat,  cannibalistic,  ugly  brutes — and  so  on.  They 
are  welcome  to  that  view.  For  many  years  up 
to  this  day  my  experience  has  been  that  with 
the  brown  trout  I  am  well  pleased  to  fight 
any  time — and  be  assured  I  like  the  game  of 
fighting  fish,  and  shall  as  long  as  I  live.  My  habit 
has  been  to  make  records  of  what  each  fish  does 
in  the  matter  of  gamy  display,  and  the  finest 
record  I  have  is  of  a  brown  trout  of  fifteen  inches, 
caught  on  a  shad-fly  the  13th  of  May,  leaping 
above  the  surface  eleven  times  before  being  brought 
to  net.  It  is  a  common  occurrence  for  them  to 
leap  four  and  five  times.  I  shall  be  pleased  to  have 
any  sceptical  expert  accompany  me  any  time 
the  last  week  in  May  to  this  water  and  see  for 


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GAME-FISH  THAT  LEAP  ABOVE  THE  SURFACE    109 

himself.  The  remarkably  varied  ways  they  re- 
sist is  a  never-ending  surprise  to  me.  Exceptions 
there  are  to  every  rule,  due,  of  course,  to  season, 
the  kind  of  water,  and  the  lure  employed.  On 
rare  occasions  I  have  had  brook-trout  leap,  but 
it  is  not  the  usual  thing.  Neither  is  it  usual  for 
large  chub  or  pickerel,  yet  half  a  dozen  of  the 
latter  fish,  caught  in  Hempstead  pond  at  Rock- 
ville  Centre,  L.  I.,  leaped  above  the  surface  ex- 
actly in  the  manner  of  trout.  But  it  is  not  the 
habit  of  pickerel  to  leap  above  the  surface,  neither 
is  it  of  large  perch;  yet  they  do  sometimes  dis- 
play that  trait. 

With  the  Montana  grayling  it  is  their  constant 
habit  to  leap.  They  lie  in  shoals  at  the  bottom  of 
deep  water;  then,  darting  upward  to  the  fly  like  an 
arrow,  if  they  miss,  go  down  just  as  quickly,  but  if 
they  succeed  in  taking  the  fly,  then  begins  a  fight 
under  and  above  the  surface  equally  aggressive. 
Time  after  time  their  silvery  slim  bodies  flash  above 
in  the  sunshine  like  iridescent  shells  waved  in  the 
sunlight.  With  wide-open  mouths  and  tall  dorsal 
fins  erect  they  seem  like  a  part  of  the  sparkling 
clear  element  which  is  their  abode.  The  grayling  is 
a  fish  that  should  be  more  widely  known  in  Eastern 
waters.  They  have  for  centuries  lived  in  amiable 


no  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

relations  with  trout  in  English  rivers,  and  could 
do  so  in  American  waters  if  the  States  had  energy 
in  favor  of  the  people's  welfare.  Much  can  be  said 
for  and  against  the  methods  pursued  by  State 
hatcheries,  but  here  is  a  fine  opportunity  to  earn 
the  gratitude  of  a  multitude  of  Eastern  fly-fisher- 
men by  planting  the  grayling  in  our  Eastern  trout 
streams.  The  season  of  breeding  for  this  gamy 
fish  would  make  it  possible  for  anglers  to  open 
a  grayling  season  for  fly-fishing  in  August,  to 
continue  till  the  rivers  are  frozen — about  January. 
Grayling  are  a  good  table  fish.  Though  they  never 
attain  great  size,  they  are  as  game  as  any  fish 
that  swims. 

How  very  different  from  the  grayling,  by  con- 
trast, is  the  bold  black  bass!  Ugly  in  shape  and 
color,  and  not  particularly  fine  as  a  table  fish,  yet 
what  a  fighter  he  is !  Look  at  his  mouth  and  eye 
when  freshly  caught,  what  a  bulldog  mug  he  owns  ! 
When  we  think  of  our  speckled  beauties  as  a  com- 
parison, we  feel  the  two  should  not  be  allowed  to 
lie  alongside  in  our  fern-lined  creel.  The  bass  is 
quite  as  ugly  as  a  bluefish,  and  of  about  the  same 
temperament.  Yet  what  a  wide  circle  of  enthusiasts 
he  has,  popular  all  over  the  continent,  North,  South, 
East,   or  West.   But  the   ''simon-pure"  method 


GAME-FISH  THAT  LEAP  ABOVE  THE  SURFACE    111 

— that  is,  casting  the  fly  for  it — has  yet  to  gain  a 
much  larger  number  of  adherents,  and  such  cannot 
be  had  till  the  bass  becomes  a  more  epicurean 
feeder,  which  I  fear  will  not  come  to  pass. 
A  bass  taken  on  the  fly  in  swift-running  water 
makes  a  tussle  in  which  angler  and  fish  are  equally 
matched.  They  begin  equal,  and  the  winner  on 
either  side  is  not  ashamed  of  his  fight.  My  old 
friend  and  fishing  companion  William  Keener  of 
Roscoe,  N.  Y.,  one  evening  hooked  a  three-pound 
brown  trout  in  that  grand  pool  formed  by  the 
junction  of  the  Willowemoc  and  Beaverkill.  I  was 
fishing  the  other  side,  and  at  dusk  watched  him 
walking  up  and  down  the  pebbly  shore.  In  the 
dim  twilight  I  shouted:  "What  on  earth  makes 
you  so  restless.^"  He  replied:  "Got  two  on." 
Determined  to  see  the  end,  I  waited  for  nearly 
two  hours  in  the  moonlight,  when  at  last  I  saw 
him  slow  up  at  a  little  cove,  step  in  the  stream, 
give  a  sweeping  kick  with  his  mighty  hobnailed 
boot  and  out  flew  the  pair  of  fish  into  the  tall 
grasses  on  shore.  To  my  utter  amazement  he  had 
carefully  played  together  a  three-pound  trout 
alongside  a  four-pound  bass — a  feat  in  fishing 
I  have  never  seen  or  heard  equalled.  With  a 
twinkle  in  his  laughing  eyes  Bill  said:  "If  that 


112  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

fool  bass  had  once  started  the  other  way,  he  would 
have  got  home,  sure  enough."  It  turned  out  that 
the  bass  had  taken  the  upper  fly  while  the  trout 
was  running  at  full  speed  and  they  both  sped 
onward  side  by  side.  I  have  captured  many  doubles 
of  bass,  trout,  and  ouananiche,  but  never  had  a 
mixed  double. 

For  pure,  undiluted  anger  and  fury  watch  a  bass 
as  he  repeatedly  breaks  from  the  water;  how  he 
shoots  up  so  unexpectedly  in  different  parts  of  the 
pool;  where,  we  know  not,  till  we  see  him  quivering 
in  the  air.  He  wastes  no  time  in  his  eagerness  to 
shake  off  the  offending  restraint;  for  a  second  we 
see  him  shaking  his  body  in  a  cloud  of  spray,  then, 
with  his  big  jaws  snapping  he  goes  down,  only  to 
emerge  again  in  another  second  or  two,  a  hun- 
dred feet  away. 

If  the  mighty  salmon  had  the  same  gameness 
in  proportion  to  his  size,  a  forty-pound  salmon 
would  be  able  to  leap  forty  feet  in  the  air,  and 
nothing  but  steel  wire  would  be  able  to  hold  his 
fearful  rushes.  A  large  salmon  will  sometimes 
make  a  long  graceful  curved  leap;  then,  I  have 
seen  him  shoot  straight  up,  turn  a  somersault 
and  dive  straight  down  to  deep  water;  in  fact 
there  is  no  movement  he  will  not  make  in  his  lordly 


Landlocked  salmon 
Salmo  Sebago 


GAME-FISH  THAT  LEAP  ABOVE  THE  SURFACE    113 

anger.  He  will  even  run  quite  close  to  the  angler, 
and  so  break  water.  No  fish  shows  so  varied  a 
manner  of  acting  when  hooked  on  a  fly.  He  will 
run  for  a  mile,  the  fisherman  following  on  as  fast 
as  his  legs  will  carry  him,  fearful  lest  his  tackle 
should  part,  and  then,  in  the  end,  finds  his  salmon 
stock-still  with  his  nose  at  the  bottom  and  tail 
straight  up,  trying  hard  to  rub  the  hook  from 
his  mouth.  There  he  stays  till  he  is  well  rested, 
and  the  angler  makes  every  effort  to  stir  him  up 
and  succeeds  at  last  only  to  find  that  without  a 
moment's  warning  he  has  again  started  for  the 
surface  with  a  powerful  leap  in  a  quarter  little 
expected.  Very  many  salmon  break  loose  in  the 
act  of  leaping.  They  know  by  experience  a  slack 
line  gives  the  desired  chance  to  flick  the  fly  away. 
The  landlocked  salmon  is  rightly  named  a  leap- 
ing salmon,  and  for  his  size  shames  his  bigger 
brothers  in  his  acrobatic  performances.  How  sud- 
denly he  appears  and  how  quickly  he  is  gone!  I 
have  seen  him  leaping  up  the  falls  but  never  out 
of  the  water  in  play  or  for  food;  he  just  bobs  his 
nose  above  the  "bruae,"  or  foam,  to  take  in  the 
flies;  yet,  when  he  is  hooked  and  his  freedom  cur- 
tailed he  is  a  veritable  demon,  tearing  along  up 
above  and  down  below  with  incredible  swiftness. 


114  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

and  all  this  in  rushing,  tearing  water.  His  move- 
ments are  like  flash-light — there  and  here  and 
gone.  His  trimly  built  body,  large  broad  tail  and 
fins  have  been  developed  by  battling  with  the 
flood  and  torrent,  so  that  his  actions  when  hooked 
seem  like  an  arrow  shot  from  a  bow. 

I  refer,  of  course,  to  the  salmon  of  the  Grande 
Decharge  of  the  Saguenay.  I  never  found  the  same 
characteristics  (and  others  agree  who  know  them 
well)  in  the  Maine  landlocked  salmon.  One  would 
not  expect  it  in  the  quiet  waters  of  an  inland  lake 
as  in  the  wild  and  stormy  Lake  St.  John  Falls. 
Nevertheless,  this  little  salmon,  place  him  where 
you  will,  is  capable  of  fighting  and  resisting  cap- 
ture, not  only  by  quickness  and  cunning,  but  by 
strength  and  energy.  Not  the  least  of  all  fine  quali- 
ties is  his  habit  of  leaping  from  the  water  on  a 
slack  line. 


TRIBULATIONS  OF  THE  LIVE-BAIT  ANGLER 


No  sane  angler  doubts  the  true  fact  that  natural 
Hve  bait,  properly  hooked  and  played,  is  the  most 
perfect  means  to  seduce  game-fishes,  and  I  frankly 
concede  the  point  that  if  natural  bait  were  now 
so  abundant  as  to  deem  it  wise  to  continue  its 
use,  the  making  and  using  of  artificial  imitations 
would  be  foolish.  But  we  have  arrived  at  the  time 
— ^nay,  past  it — ^when  all  species  of  natural  bait  are 
very  hard  to  capture  and  expensive  to  buy  because 
of  their  scarcity;  and  most  difficult  to  keep  alive 
or  in  condition  for  use  when  you  need  them.  Have 
I  not  in  days  gone  by  seen  the  tribulations  of  a 

115 


116  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

live-bait  angler  and  gained  wisdom  thereby  ?  Many 
a  time  have  I  gone  through  these  troubles,  and 
paid  dearly  for  the  precious  value  they  gave,  or 
intended  to  give,  in  sport.  It  may  also  be  said,  I 
have  vainly  argued  with  the  wicked  boy  and  his 
exorbitant  demand  for  his  frogs  that  looked  so 
tempting — flying  snug  in  a  long  row  at  the  bottom 
of  a  wire-top  cigar  box.  How  different  from  mine 
was  the  masterful  way  in  which  the  captives  were 
held  secure  and  safe;  how  easily  recaptured  if 
they  got  away.  The  large,  fat  man  was  pitifully 
helpless  when  these  youthful  tyrants  insisted  on 
a  "quarter"  each  for  these  elusive  jumpers  that 
so  mysteriously  disappear  an  hour  after  the  crisp 
bills  have  adorned  the  grimy  paw  of  this  miniature 
member  of  the  "frog  trust."  What  a  look  of  dis- 
gust is  pictured  on  the  face  of  the  most  serene 
angler  after  playing  and  landing  the  first  bass  or 
pike  to  turn  around  and  witness  the  last  of  the 
captives  just  diving  from  the  edge  of  the  boat 
into  the  water.  The  first  impulse  is  to  dive  after 
them,  or  make  a  sudden  move  and  a  slip  that 
nearly  topples  over  the  boat  for  a  wetting.  It  is 
then,  at  such  a  time,  the  doleful  wail  goes  up :  "  Why 
on  earth  didn't  I  get  some  artificial  frogs  ?  They  do 
at  least  lie  still  and  are  a  mighty  sight  cheaper." 


TRIBULATIONS  OF  LIVE-BAIT  ANGLERS         117 

But  more  deplorable  are  the  conditions  when 
boys  are  at  a  premium,  not  to  be  found  either 
for  love  or  money.  We  and  the  tackle  are  all  ready 
for  the  fray;  conditions  are  just  right  and  weather 
superb.  We  lay  down  our  creel  and  rod,  and  grudg- 
ingly trudge  off  to  the  swamp  in  order  to  capture 
the  pretty  little  greenbacks  in  their  native  lair. 
With  a  self-satisfied  air  we  say:  "It's  easy  enough 
with  a  net!"  But  is  it,  dear  brother  angler.?  You 
all  know  what  a  ''divil"  of  a  time  it  is,  jumping, 
running,  then  creeping  on  "all  fours"  with  face 
splashed  with  mud,  cuflFs — ^if  we  have  them — ^all 
wet  and  dirty;  all  the  time  muttering  dire  ven- 
geance on  the  little  animated  bait  fiends.  We  see 
plenty,  feel  plenty  too,  but  catch  and  hold  securely, 
we  certainly  do  not.  Meanwhile,  time  passes  swiftly 
by;  soon  the  "wicked  hand  of  time  is  on  the  sign 
of  noon,"  and  we  are  still  at  it,  still  jumping, 
nearly  with  the  same  agility  as  the  frogs  them- 
selves. 

At  this  stage  of  the  game  there  is  this  to  say: 
our  temper,  while  not  exactly  at  boiling  pitch, 
is  quite  warm  enough  to  hunt  for  a  pliable  wand, 
or  even  a  thick  stick  that  is  not  rotten,  and  so, 
we  vow,  we'll  catch  'em  dead,  if  not  alive.  The 
fun  grows  apace.  If  we  could  only  see  ourselves 


118  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

as  we  appear  on  these  occasions,  crumpled  hat 
on  one  side,  face  and  neck  well  coated  with  sticky 
perspiration,  tie  and  collar  hanging  at  the  back 
instead  of  the  front,  indulging  in  sprightly  gym- 
nastics that  would  make  a  clown's  fortune.  All 
these  things  would  be  saved  unto  us  had  we  only 
been  provided  with  an  artificial  frog,  and  the 
thought  flashes  through  our  mind:  "What  a  darned 
fool  to  forget  such  a  treasure ! " 

The  stout  stick  or  pliable  withe — as  the  case 
may  be — is  brought  down  with  such  a  whack  on 
the  poor  little  beastie  that  if  the  aim  were  true, 
surely  it  would  drive  it  two  inches  into  the  soft 
green  sward.  Sometimes  the  aim  is  true,  but  not 
quick  enough.  Then,  like  the  big  drum  man,  we 
begin  to  beat  more  savagely  than  ever,  until  our 
weary  bones  ache  with  pain.  We  at  last  take  a 
rest  and  time  enough  to  say  to  ourselves:  "Come 
now,  this  is  no  gentle  angler,"  and  patience  re- 
turns. We  soon  manage  to  strike  half  a  dozen 
enough  to  stun  them.  We  quickly  box  the  precious 
though  light  burden,  and  about  3  p.  m.,  get  to 
work  fishing. 

But  frogs  are  not  the  only  live  bait  to  vex  the 
placid  angler;  digging  for  lampreys  is  another 
back-breaking,  pleasing  pastime.  How  cheerfully 


TRIBULATIONS  OF  LIVE-BAIT  ANGLERS        119 

we  start  off  under  the  directions  of  an  angling 
friend  to  that  Httle  sand-bar  just  below  the  third 
rapid,  only  about  a  mile  away,  and  near  by  in 
the  bushes  a  spade  is  hidden.  We  search  but  do 
not  find,  search  again  to  find  tracks  of  some 
previous  angler  who  has  been  there,  only  to  hide 
the  spade  in  another  place,  and  we  hunt  again 
in  every  likely  spot  until  at  last,  in  despair  we 
pick  up  an  old  piece  of  iron-sheathing  to  do  duty 
as  a  spade.  Every  bass  fisherman  knows  that 
lampreys  lie  about  six  inches  deep  in  wet  muddy 
sand.  Even  with  an  improved  patent  spade  work 
is  hard,  lampreys  wofully  scarce.  We  perhaps  turn 
over  a  few  little  ones  and  these  we  grab  quickly 
enough  after  infinite  pains;  secure  three  or  four 
nice  ones;  even  those  we  think,  better  than  nothing, 
for  the  truth  is,  we  are  too  tired  after  such  labor 
to  go  at  the  fishing  with  the  same  vim  we  felt  in 
the  morning  hours.  Well,  we  have  got  them,  we 
think,  snugly  packed  in  grass,  the  tin  can  securely 
tight  in  our  pocket,  convenient  to  abstract  even 
when  wading  waist-deep  in  the  current.  But  alas ! 
The  slippery  eel  was  not  made  to  handle  with 
one  hand,  nor  the  rod  to  float  obediently  by  our 
side.  While  capturing  the  slimy  critters  to  hook, 
flop !  goes  our  big  one  into  the  water.  Another 


120  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

works  its  way  up  the  shirt-sleeve.  In  desperation, 
we  place  the  rod  between  our  teeth,  to  leave  our 
two  hands  free;  yet  still  another  hand  would  be 
welcome  to  save  us  from  simply  having  grass  for 
bait. 

We  cast  forth  the  hooked  one  to  lose  our  sad 
thoughts  in  the  rigor  of  the  game.  In  half  a  minute 
the  wriggling  terror  has  crawled  under  a  rock, 
and  budge  it  we  cannot,  being  wound  around  the 
rock,  lying  snug  in  a  hole,  past  recovery.  We  get 
so  mad,  giving  a  jerk  and  a  pull,  that  the  Une  comes 
back  minus  bait,  hook,  and  leader.  With  a  sad 
and  weary  smile  we  find  it  to  be  the  last  bait,  and 
we  have  no  bass.  It  is  then,  more  than  ever,  we  cry 
in  anguish:  "Oh,  why  didn't  we  get  artificial  eels !" 

As  to  minnows,  the  best  thing  an  angler  can  do 
is  to  frankly  admit  there  is  more  real  sport  in 
catching  them  than  there  is  in  bass  fishing.  Cer- 
tain, we  need  not  imagine  it  less  lively  or  diflScult. 
Who  has  not  tried  to  drive  a  school  of  lovely  min- 
nows up  a  little  brook,  and  with  a  net  struggled  to 
scoop  them  out  of  a  convenient  pool  only  to  find 
the  net  held  tight  at  the  bottom  by  a  rock  or  sunken 
branch  which  rips  a  hole  right  across  it,  and  the 
water  so  muddy  we  are  forced  to  wait  fifteen  min- 
utes for  it  to  clear.  So  we  mend  the  net.  By  the 


TRIBULATIONS  OF  LIVE-BAIT  ANGLERS        121 

time  it  is  fit  for  work,  the  minnows  have  disap- 
peared. We  travel  still  farther  only  to  find  they 
have  scattered;  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  secure 
a  single  specimen,  each  darting  away  like  a  flash 
before  the  net  touches  the  water.  What  angler  is 
there,  I  ask,  who  has  not  seen  minnows  in  swarms 
so  thick  he  could  scoop  them  up  easily  with  his 
hands  at  times  when  he  did  not  require  them;  and 
yet  when  he  did,  how  wof ully  scarce  and  hard  they 
were  to  get !  Again  our  minds  turn  to  the  madden- 
ing thought,  how  much  easier  bass  fishing  would  be 
if  one  possessed  an  artificial  minnow.  The  remem- 
brance of  them  lying  so  quiet  on  the  white  cards  in 
the  tackle  shops  is  galling  in  the  extreme;  to  our 
minds  they  were  more  true  to  nature,  and  to  our 
thinking  more  killing  than  the  live  ones.  Like  the 
frisky  frog,  when  he  was  captured  after  such  in- 
finite pains,  the  vexatious  problem  loomed  darkly 
as  to  keeping  minnows  in  fit  condition  for  fishing 
some  miles  away. 
We  knew  (some  anglers  don't)  that  the  water 
should  be  kept  at  a  low  temperature  or  they  would 
soon  sink  to  the  bottom  or  rise  to  float  stiff  with 
a  ghastly  paleness.  Again,  those  white  cards,  upon 
which  the  beautiful  minnows  glistened  day  after 
day  in  the  sunny  window,  without  changing  color ! 


122  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

However,  we  wrap  the  pail  of  minnows  tenderly  in 
our  coat  to  keep  them  from  the  sun,  and  hope  for 
the  best,  which  at  the  end  of  the  journey  is  very 
poor.  We  find  one  or  two  little  fellows  at  the  sur- 
face, with  wide-open  mouths,  gasping  for  what  we 
know  not,  but  we  hook  one  quickly  to  revive  him  in 
the  cooling  stream.  It  works  to  a  charm,  and  so  we 
change  the  water  to  save  what  few  still  live.  After 
all  the  troubles,  griefs,  and  woes,  we  are  perhaps 
repaid  by  two  or  three  nice  fish — perhaps  not — it  is 
certain  we  there  and  then  make  a  vow  to  wire  from 
the  nearest  station:  "Send  a  dozen  artificial  min- 
nows at  once;  hang  the  price,  so  long  as  they  are 
good."  So  we  wait  day  after  day,  till  a  letter  comes 
—"Sold  out." 
The  live-bait  angler  who  can  secure  bait  with- 
out much  trouble  and  expense  is  very  much  to 
be  envied,  but  certainly  he  is  a  rare  individual, 
and  uncommonly  smart.  In  another  way  he  is  to 
be  pitied  in  that  he  loses  a  mixture  of  spice  and 
a  fair  amount  of  discipline  that  makes  the  perfect 
angler  what  he  is  famed  to  be,  sweet  of  temper 
and  kind  of  heart.  The  writer,  years  ago,  ran  the 
whole  gamut  of  live-bait  hunting;  they  are  all 
alike  as  to  capture.  The  wily  "dobson"  as  well 
as  the  shy  and  retiring  crawfish  have  in  a  way 


TRIBULATIONS  OF  LIVE-BAIT  ANGLERS 


123 


their  own  peculiar  habits  and  manners,  and  al- 
though in  truth  they  are  not  quite  so  hard  to  keep 
alive,  yet  they  have  other  remarkable  traits  that 
make  them  as  like  each  other  as  one  grape  is  like 
the  rest  of  the  bunch.  The  live-bait  angler  can 


How  live  frogs  should  float. 


How  live  frogs  usually  float. 

with  justice  say  the  artificial-lure  man  has  also 
troubles  to  vex  him,  and  for  that  reason  I  have  in 
latter  years  been  trying  to  dodge  these  darker 
sides  of  an  angler's  life,  and  find  a  cure-all  for 
some  at  least. 

Last  year  I  read  an  interesting  letter  from  an 
angler,  referring  to  his  experiments  on  live  bait, 


124  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

in  administering  a  very  small  dose  of  brandy  in 
order  to  make  the  bait  more  lively  in  the  water, 
therefore,  enticing  the  game-fish  in  addition  to 
forgetting  his  own  woes.  Every  angler  is  aware 
that  dead  frogs,  minnows,  and  other  baits  are 
less  effective  than  lively  ones.  Frogs,  after  the 
first  few  casts,  have  a  tendency,  even  when  alive, 
to  float,  belly  up.  This  indecent  habit  is  neither 
pleasing  to  the  angler  nor  agreeable  to  the  fish, 
and  I  find  the  aforesaid  brandy  treatment  to  be 
a  complete  cure  for  that  and  other  ills. 

My  first  experiment  was  made  on  a  six-inch  chub 
caught  on  the  fly  when  trout  fishing.  Providing 
myself  with  a  small  bottle,  holding  but  two  table- 
spoonfuls  of  the  liquid,  in  order  that  I  could  easily 
pour  single  drops,  I  unhooked  the  fish,  gave  it 
two  full  drops,  then  placed  it  back  in  the  water. 
The  effect  on  its  movements  was  magical.  Swim- 
ming about  at  such  a  lively  rate,  going  round 
and  round  with  amazing  rapidity,  I  felt  at  once 
convinced  that  the  idea  was  a  complete  success. 
Such  being  the  case  with  fish  bait,  why  not  on 
a  young  frog.^  The  result  would  be  even  more 
gratifying.  So  I  set  to  work,  caught  a  frog,  gave 
him  a  dose  that  started  him  kicking  before  even 
being  placed  in  the  water.  After  hooking  it  and 


TRIBULATIONS  OF  LIVE-BAIT  ANGLERS        125 

putting  it  in  the  water,  it  was  the  most  joyful 
active  frog  I  ever  saw,  swimming  about  in  all 
directions  in  the  most  animated  manner.  Had 
there  been  bass  or  pike  within  a  radius  of  fifty 
feet,  it  would  have  been  devoured  in  no  time.  Of 
course,  I  was  careful  to  consider  that  an  overdose 
would  be  fatal;  that  the  smaller  the  frog  or  min- 
now, the  less  be  the  necessary  dose. 

I  am  convinced  that  this  plan  of  giving  a  stimu- 
lant to  live  bait  not  only  induces  the  lively  action 
and  quick  movement  so  valuable  to  the  angler 
but  it  also  helps  to  keep  them  alive  much  longer, 
if  the  fish  do  not  at  once  take  them.  I  also  assume 
that  whatever  pain  the  frog  has  to  endure,  such 
a  dose  would  be  certain  to  lessen.  Since  this  chap- 
ter appeared  in  magazine  form,  the  country  has 
gone  bone-dry;  so  I  advise  those  plutocrats  who 
prudently  hoarded  a  good  supply  to  save  a  stock 
for  this  beneficent  purpose. 

After  reading  the  foregoing,  the  childlike  and 
trusting  amateur  will,  I  hope,  perceive  that  a 
wise  selection  of  the  best  lures  or  self-made  ones, 
however  crude,  should  be  part  of  every  fisher- 
man's kit;  that  is,  if  he  wants  to  catch  fish  and 
the  time  at  his  disposal  is  short;  otherwise,  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  vacation  he  will  be  everlast- 


126 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


ingly  on  the  jump  for  live  bait.  Five  dollars  spent 
in  lures  is  a  mighty  good  investment  compared  to 
that  required  in  purchasing  live  bait.  There  is 
trouble  in  lures  as  in  live  bait,  but  of  a  different 
kind,  which  the  amateur  will  soon  find  out  for  him- 
self, and  he  will  at  last  conclude,  as  I  have  after 
many  years'  practice,  that  angling  is  a  curious  mix- 
ture of  pleasure  and  pain — the  latter  most  often 
predominating.  All  the  same,  we  like  it,  and  are 
never  tired,  whatever  the  result  may  be. 


XI 

DESCRIPTION  OF  SOME  NEW  IDEAS  FOR 
FLOATING  NATURE  LURES 

Anglers  so  often  write:  "I  don't  need  or  want 
a  bait  to  float — ^I  want  to  fish  on  the  bottom." 
Herein  they  are  either  entirely  wrong,  or  they 
misunderstand  the  situation.  They  do  need  a 
floating  artificial  to  fish  on  the  bottom,  and  after 
they  get  to  know  my  method,  they  write  to  con- 
fess that  they  were  wrong.  Indeed  the  crux  of  my 
entire  effort  is  to  avoid  the  faults  of  commercial 
baits  made  by  machinery,  which,  if  you  allow 
them,  lie  dead,  inanimate  on  the  bottom,  whereas 
my  baits  are  made  to  float  suspended  in  the  water, 
at  any  place  or  depth  you  desire,  from  a  few  inches 
off  bottom  up  to  the  surface.  I  don't  expect  an- 

127 


128  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

glers  to  fish  the  surface  with  a  crawfish,  hell- 
grammite,  or  even  frogs.  Nevertheless,  if  fish  can 
be  persuaded  to  run  up  to  the  surface  where  you 
are  able  to  see  them  grab  it,  that  is  a  condition  very- 
desirable  indeed;  far  superior  to  bottom  fishing. 
Aside  from  that,  it  is  a  very  comforting  thing 
that  you  have  no  fear  or  worry  about  snags  to  lose 
bait,  leader,  and  a  piece  of  good  line.  It  is  no  dis- 
advantage that  a  bait  is  made  to  float;  quite  the 
contrary.  I  could  make  lures  considerably  easier 
and  cheaper  of  heavier-than-water  material.  In 
fact,  they  could  then  be  made  by  machinery  to 
retail  with  a  profit  at  a  "quarter  each."  But 
that  would  be  no  improvement  over  the  present 
output  sold  in  the  shops,  except  that  they  could 
very  easily  be  made  more  lifelike  and  artistic  than 
they  are  now. 

Nobody,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  has  yet  attempted 
to  make  trout  flies  by  machinery;  a  most  detestable 
thought  anyway.  They  require  hand-work  com- 
bined with  brain-work,  which  is  art  handicraft, 
a  distinction  so  superior  in  results  as  to  preclude 
comparison.  Nobody,  I  am  well  sure,  can  make 
these  nature  lures  by  machinery;  like  flies,  hand- 
work is  the  only  way  to  do  it.  Three  important 
things  are  required  not  hitherto  done,  which  I  am 


THE  IMPROVED  FLOATING  NATURE  LURES    129 

making  efforts  to  do  to  make  the  artificials  attract 
the  fish.  First,  to  make  them  artistic  and  true  to 
nature.  Second,  to  have  them  act  in  the  water  hke 
the  creatures  they  imitate.  Third,  to  plan  a  method 
where  the  fishing  is  to  the  angler  what  indeed  it 
should  be,  a  fine  art,  withal  humane. 

With  this  preliminary,  I  will  briefly  describe 
the  principal  baits,  so  that  the  angler  may,  with 
the  aid  of  pictures,  get  a  better  knowledge  of  the 
detachable  parts  and  other  features  that  are  orig- 
inal to  them. 

Beginning  with  minnows,  which  are  of  great 
variety  in  shape,  color,  and  size,  from  the  tiny 
inch  terror  to  the  five-inch-hook  shiner  for  lake- 
trout,  they  have  become  by  years  of  tests  and 
trials  in  a  sort  of  evolution  effective,  substantial 
baits,  perfectly  well  balanced  to  swim  like  a  nat- 
ural fish.  By  advice  of*  hundreds  of  experts' 
suggestions,  the  hooks  are  being  well  placed  to 
catch  and  to  hold.  The  attachment  of  leader 
to  eye  is  exactly  like  that  of  a  dry-fly.  All  the 
minnows  up  to  three-inch  hooks  are  so  light  as 
to  be  easily  fished  like  a  fly,  with  the  additional 
value  of  being  used  either  in  spinning  or  casting. 
The  proposed  new  method  makes  them  capable 
of  being  trolled  at  the  surface  or  fished  in  deep 


130  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

water,  an  accomplishment  possessed  by  no  other 
bait. 

The  various-sized  minnows  are  all  made  in  two- 
color  combinations — red  and  gold,  blue  and  silver 
— made  so  to  suit  the  color  of  natural  food-fish  in 
as  wide  a  territory  as  the  northern  continent. 
The  red  and  gold  is  a  greater  favorite  in  Texas, 
California,  and  Pacific  coastal  States,  and  in  cer- 
tain parts  of  Canada  and  Maine.  I  am  told  by 
those  who  use  them,  the  red  and  gold  more  nearly 
imitates  the  reddish  tinge  of  their  minnows.  In 
the  Middle  West,  from  Montana  to  the  Eastern 
seaboard  States,  the  preference  is  decidedly  in 
favor  of  blue-and-silver  minnows,  which  coincides 
with  my  own  practice  and  experience  of  Eastern 
waters.  While  I  have  captured  both  trout  and 
bass  on  the  red  and  gold,  I  nearly  always  put 
on  the  blue  and  silver,  because  the  fish  food  is 
mostly  of  that  color.  The  darter  minnow,  a  later 
invention,  not  yet  widely  used,  is  without  the 
feather  plume,  and  made  in  sizes  1>^,  2,  3,  4,  5  inch 
body.  It  is  painted  to  imitate  young  trout,  perch, 
and  silversides,  and  relies  entirely  upon  an  exact 
imitation  of  nature.  The  primary  object  of  the 
feather  plumes  on  the  back  of  various  minnows  is 
to  attract  attention  by  the  peculiar  wavy  motion 


THE  IMPROVED  FLOATING  NATURE  LURES    131 

of  the  feather,  so  Kke  the  waving  tail  and  fins  of 
a  minnow.  After  much  testing  with  or  without 
plumes,  the  former  has  been  found  to  have  no 
disadvantage,  except  that  the  feathers  become 
ragged  from  constant  chewing  by  the  fish.  The 
advantage  is  additional  attraction  from  the  wav- 
ing colors.  The  long,  feathery  plumes,  especially 
peacocks'  herle,  are  decidedly  more  enticing  to 
both  trout  and  bass.  That  the  simple,  plain  body 
does  catch  fish,  I  have  many  proofs  of  my  own 
experience,  and  I  should  like  very  much  to  dis- 
card the  trouble  and  expense  of  feather  additions 
to  the  minnow's  body,  and  hope  to  do  so  when 
demand  calls  for  it  sufficiently  to  make  it  gener- 
ally satisfactory,  replacing  it  with  a  minnow  com- 
pact and  durable  for  several  seasons.  The  most 
desirable  thing  is  perfect  spacing  or  placing  of 
hooks,  and  making  the  bait  swim  upright  with  a 
rapid  motion  through  the  water,  which,  after  in- 
finite trouble  and  changes,  they  now  do. 

While  I  make,  on  demand  for  many  anglers,  the 
double  and  treble  hook  minnow,  after  thoroughly 
testing  them  to  be  sure  they  are  effective,  I  rarely 
use  them  myself,  because,  I  am  sure,  one  single 
hook  rightly  placed  does  not  miss.  Trout  as  well  as 
bass  open  their  mouths  wide  for  the  minnow,  clos- 


132  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

ing  it  almost  instantaneously;  were  it  not  so,  a  live 
minnow  would  escape.  Rarely  indeed  do  I  find  in 
the  stomach  a  cut  minnow  or  even  one  which  has 
been  torn  by  the  teeth;  yet  teeth  of  brown  trout  are 
large  and  many.  It  is  not  often  that  I  have  brown 
trout  get  off,  for  in  closing  the  mouth  the  hook 
takes  hold  and  the  barb  is  fastened  to  the  flesh 
before  they  perceive  the  fraud  (for  base  fraud  it 
rightly  is).  The  case  is  different  with  a  fly,  which 
they  take  more  delicately;  just  a  nip,  very  often 
a  miss,  because  the  hook  is  small,  and  quite  often, 
after  dashing  above  the  surface,  they  flick  off 
the  fly  with  their  tongue. 

Personally  I  prefer  the  small  minnows,  even  for 
large  fish.  The  inch  and  two-inch  minnows  very 
well  suffice  for  good-size  trout,  say  sixteen  inches. 
If  you  know  where  a  big  fellow  lies,  his  capture 
is  more  safe  when  once  hooked  on  a  three  or  four 
inch  hook.  I  hope  to  induce  anglers  to  see  this 
view,  so  that  I  can  reduce  the  size  and  variety  of 
minnows.  The  big  four-inch  and  five-inch  hook 
gold  chub  and  silver  shiner  are  both  alike  in  con- 
struction and  size;  the  only  difference  is  one  is 
gold  and  red,  and  the  other  is  silver  and  blue.  I 
cannot  as  yet  judge  whether  they  are  most  ef- 
fective in  spring  or  fall.  If  numbers  in  demand 
were  conclusive,  the  fall  would  win.  But  it  is  quite 


THE  IMPROVED  FLOATING  NATURE  LURES    133 

possible  many  more  anglers  fish  for  lake-trout 
and  muskellunge  in  the  fall  than  they  do  in  the 
spring.  The  tendency  in  demand  for  this  particular 
minnow  is  for  larger  size  and  bigger  hook;  the 
back  feather  plume  is  a  more  conspicuous  feature, 
larger  and  more  bushy,  but  I  am  making  this 
minnow  almost  entirely  bare  of  feathers,  to  pro- 
duce an  artificial  shiner  compact,  durable,  and 
strong.  Now  that  I  have  acquired  a  shining, 
untarnishable  metal  for  the  belly,  and  have  tied 
the  back  well  and  firmly,  the  angler  will  have 
the  perfect  trolling  shiner  for  the  heavy  game- 
fish.  I  have  supplied  it  on  request  to  several 
Pacific  coast  anglers  who  wanted  it  for  trial  on 
the  Chinook  salmon,  but  no  reports  have  been 
received,  good  or  otherwise.  This  I  very  much 
regret  in  cases  where  I  am  unable  to  make  per- 
sonal tests.  If  my  baits  are  not  effective  in  a  cer- 
tain locality,  I  ought  to  be  the  first  to  know  of  it, 
in  order  to  continue  further  efforts  in  perfecting 
them  from  any  suggestions  offered. 
Before  concluding  this  reference  to  my  artificial 
minnows,  I  would  ask  the  reader  to  carefully 
examine  the  colored  page  of  minnows  and  other 
food-fish,  to  note  how  beautiful  and  varied  are 
the  forms  and  color.  They  are  only  a  very  small 
selection  of  the  many  species  and  varieties  found 


134  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

in  various  sections  of  the  North  American  con- 
tinent. It  will  be  seen  at  once  how  very  evidently 
impossible  it  would  be  to  exactly  imitate  any 
particular  one  for  general  use  in  all  localities,  and 
I  believe  the  plan  I  have  adopted  is  the.  best, 
viz.,  to  make  red  and  gold,  blue  and  silver,  the 
principal  colors.  No  colored  representation,  how- 
ever perfect,  can  produce  the  silvery  or  golden 
sheen  of  these  fish  as  observed  in  the  water.  All 
the  artist  can  do  is  to  convey  what  is  called  the 
"general  effect"  of  glistening  brightness.  Salmon 
flies  are  an  example  of  an  attempt  to  get  at  the 
effect  mentioned.  I  have  tried  everything  with 
the  limited  materials  at  command,  even  to  making 
a  floating  painted  small  minnow,  copied  exactly 
from  the  colored  pictures,  with  the  belly  creamy 
white  in  place  of  shining  metal.  Trial  after  trial 
with  all  the  skill  I  know,  proves  that  it  does  not 
seduce  trout.  Immediately  a  change  is  made  to 
the  shiny  terror  minnow,  I  get  strikes  from  chub, 
pickerel,  perch,  bass,  or  trout,  whichever  I  am 
fishing  for.  I  have  finally  concluded  that  my  con- 
fidence in  a  metal  body  shows  it  to  be  by  far  the 
best,  so  that  the  shiny  devil,  hackle  minnows, 
various-sized  terrors,  and  feather  minnows  can- 
not be  improved  as  far  as  I  am  concerned. 


THE  IMPROVED  FLOATING  NATURE  LURES    135 

Very  little  description  is  necessary  concerning 
the  remainder  of  the  nature  lures  which  are  all 
made  to  act  in  the  water  exactly  like  nature,  and 
will,  as  it  were,  speak  for  themselves.  The  green 
and  brown  frogs  are  constructed  to  float  right, 
with  only  the  head  above  water,  so  that  they  will 
not  turn  over  with  belly  up,  and  the  movable 
legs  will  hang  down  when  in  repose;  but  when 
moved  along,  the  legs  spread  out  as  in  the  act 
of  swimming.  Both  the  large  size  and  the  little 
jumper  frogs  are  solidly  built,  so  far  as  possible 
weedless,  and  are  most  attractive  lures. 

The  bullhead  should  rightly  be  included  along 
with  the  minnows,  having  a  solid  silver  belly, 
with  dark-colored  body.  It  has  been  used  with 
success  for  rainbows  and  bass. 

The  crawfish  is  primarily  a  bass  bait,  with  body 
hook  and  detachable  tail  hook;  it  is  painted  on 
the  back  in  light  brown,  with  underbody  pale 
cream  to  exactly  imitate  the  natural  creature.  I 
have  made  a  varied  selection  of  grasshoppers 
both  in  size  and  color,  copied  from  numerous 
species,  ranging  from  the  large  three  inch  down 
to  the  tiny  little  red  grasshopper  on  No.  10  hook, 
specially  tied  for  small  brook-trout. 

Both   the   bass-hellgrammite   and    winged    hell- 


136  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

grammite  are  so  made  in  form  as  to  be  suitable 
for  trolling  as  well  as  casting.  Swimming  upright, 
they  are  attractive  and  deadly  bass  baits.  They 
have  taken  bass  in  every  kind  of  water — at  the 
surface,  midwater,  and  at  the  bottom  in  both 
swift  and  still  water. 

The  caterpillars,  made  either  with  treble  small 
hooks  or  one  large  hook,  have  brown  body  and 
hackle.  Another  is  done  in  black,  and  there  is 
also  one  in  gray.  The  large  blue  dragon-fly,  up  to 
the  present,  has  only  been  used,  to  any  extent,  in 
the  South  and  Southwest :  Florida,  Carolina,  Ten- 
nessee, Texas,  California,  and  other  States.  It 
copies  the  insect  true  to  life,  and  is  large  and  with 
a  powerful  hook  suited  to  the  big-mouth  bass, 
by  which  it  seems  to  be  preferred.  For  the  cricket 
I  have  made  three  different  sizes:  a  big  one  for 
large  bass  and  trout,  a  medium,  and  one  quite 
small  for  average-size  trout,  which  is  very  effec- 
tive from  early  spring  to  fall.  The  lamprey  is 
the  only  "heavier-than-water"  bait  I  have  pro- 
duced for  both  casting  and  troUing.  The  peculiar 
wriggle  natural  to  the  creature  is  well  imitated 
by  two  twists  in  the  hook.  But  a  later  imitation 
floats  and  swims  along  a  short  distance  below 
the  surface,  giving  the  same  lifelike  wriggle  with 


THE  IMPROVED  FLOATING  NATURE  LURES    137 

the  additional  advantage  of  not  sinking  dead 
on  the  bottom  by  its  weight.  It  is  colored  true  to 
Hfe,  with  hook  attachment  set  to  best  advantage 
for  a  good  hold,  and  will  give  good  sport,  saving 
a  lot  of  worry  in  procuring  live  bait. 

Reference  to  trout-hellgrammite,  caddis-creeper, 
and  nymph-creeper  will  be  found  in  Chapter  III. 
In  order  to  further  my  theory  of  the  efficiency  of 
metal  bodies,  I  invented  a  new  set  of  six  dry  and 
wet  gold  and  silver  body  fly  minnows  for  bass 
on  No.  6  hook,  and  trout  on  No.  10  hooks,  named 
after  the  most  famous  and  beautiful  natural  trout 
streams  in  New  York  State. 

Their  effectiveness  depends  altogether  on  the  bril- 
liant shine  of  the  body  in  the  water  when  in  swift 
motion.  After  two  seasons  of  tests  in  many  waters 
by  myself  and  a  number  of  experts,  they  have  been 
found  to  be  most  effective  and  deadly  fly  minnows 
under  any  conditions  whatever.  To  make  it  possi- 
ble for  anglers  to  use  at  a  very  moderate  price,  con- 
siderably lower  than  I  could  make  them,  they  are 
under  my  direction  and  from  my  patterns  tried  by 
the  best  fly-tryer  in  England.  With  each  set  are 
given  printed  instructions  showing  under  what  con- 
ditions they  should  be  used. 


138  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

No.  1 — Brown.  Neversink  has  brown-speckled  wings,  brown- 
speckled  hackle  and  tail  whisks,  with  gold  body. 
No.  2 — Black.  Willowemoc  has  black  wings,  black  hackle, 

bend  and  tail  whisks,  with  gold  body. 
No.  3 — Red.  Esopus  has  rich  brown-speckled  wings,  orange 

hackle,  red  head,  gold  body,  tail  whisks,  red 

golden  pheasant. 
No.  4 — Dark  gray.  Beaverkill  has  dark  olive-slate-colored 

wings,    gray   hackle,   black   head,    silver   body, 

black  tail  whisks. 
No.  5 — White.   Battenkill  has  white  wings,  gray-speckled 

hackle,  black  head,  silver  body,  gray-speckled 

tail  whisks. 
No.  6 — Light  gray.  Mongaup;    gray-speckled'  wings,  green 

head,  white  hackle,  silver  body,  gray-speckled  tail 

whisks. 


This  set  is  used  in  regular  fly-casting  method, 
both  dry  and  wet.  I  have  found  one  fly  effective, 
but  three  can  be  used  on  the  same  cast  for  trout, 
if  desired.  For  bass  fishing  one  fly  is  enough,  and 
the  choice  entirely  depends  upon  weather  and 
water. 

This  set  of  six  fly  minnows  was  originally  made 
only  on  one  size  hook — No.  10 — but  later  quite  a 
number  of  anglers  requested  a  larger  fly  and  hook 
on  all  six  patterns  for  use  in  bass  fishing,  so  that 
I  have  had  a  quantity  tied  on  No.  6  hook  with 
wings  much  larger  in  size.  If  bass  can  be  persuaded 
to  rise  to  any  fly,  they  will  surely  take  these,  when 


THE  IMPROVED  FLOATING  NATURE  LURES     139 

played  under  water  in  rapid  darts,  and  quick 
flashes  along  near  the  surface  or  down  below.  For 
lake  fishing,  especially,  they  will  attract  bass  if 
you  place  split  shot  on  the  leader  and  allow  them 
to  sink  near  the  bottom,  making  animated  rod- 
tip  jerks.  Personal  choice  will  dictate  how  many 
flies  to  place  on  the  leader.  I  generally  prefer  a 
single  fly  on  the  leader  to  at  times  fish  it  dry  at 
the  surface,  but  when  I  feel  sure  a  number  of  bass, 
or  even  trout,  are  congregated  together  in  a  pool, 
I  use  two,  and  sometimes  three,  flies  frequently 
to  get  a  "double."  Such  a  thing  occurs  mostly 
when  one  fish  is  hooked  and  running  about;  the 
swift  movement  of  the  remaining  flies  attract 
other  fish  to  them,  and  they,  too,  get  hooked.  A 
situation  of  this  kind  requires  most  careful  hand- 
ling to  get  both  fish  properly  netted. 

The  latest  darter  minnows  both  for  bass  and 
trout  are  all  made  with  the  hook  placed  right 
under  the  vent,  viz.,  about  the  middle  of  the 
belly,  with  as  strong  and  large  hooks  as  the  bait 
permits.  Anglers  will  find  them  superior  in  several 
ways  to  the  spinning  minnows  of  soft  rubber  and 
gang-hooks.  These  hooks  are  objectionable  be- 
cause of  the  difficulty  in  releasing  several  treble 
hooks;  also  the  spinning  causes  much  trouble  in 


140  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

twisting  a  very  thin  line.  If  by  imperfect  play 
the  amateur  fails  to  make  the  spinner  spin,  it  at 
once  becomes  ineffective,  and  often  after  the  cast 
the  gang-hooks  get  entangled  with  the  leader,  so 
far  as  my  own  experience  goes. 

No  such  defects  will  be  found  with  the  *' darter." 
The  amateur  can  play  it  with  ease;  in  fact,  you 
can  just  let  it  loose  in  running  water,  near  or  far, 
and  it  gayly  swims  along  near  the  surface  of  its 
own  free  will  from  place  to  place,  just  like  the 
natural  minnow.  When  grabbed,  the  hook  holds 
securely,  is  quickly  released,  and  ready  in  a  second 
to  resume  operations.  Its  natural  attitude  in  the 
water,  its  effectiveness,  is  not  interrupted  for  a 
moment  by  not  spinning  or  working  right.  This 
same  happy  condition  for  the  angler's  comfort 
applies  equally  well  to  the  different  size  "feather" 
and  "terror"  minnows,  which,  immediately  they 
touch  the  water,  work  right,  and  continue  to  work 
right  till  grabbed  by  the  fish. 

After  finding  the  two  and  three  inch  darters 
so  effective  for  browns  and  rainbows,  I  concluded 
that  the  big  five-inch  silver  shiner  and  gold  chub, 
used  for  pike,  muskellunge,  and  salmon,  would  be 
vastly  improved  if  made  on  the  same  lines,  having 
a  powerful  hook  of  large  bend  placed  right  under 


THE  IMPROVED  FLOATING  NATURE  LURES    141 


the  middle  of  the  body,  and  the  upper  part  bare 
of  feathery  plumes;  with  a  solid  mass  of  shining 
silver  underneath,  and  the  upper  part  painted 
true  to  life.  Both  for  trolling  and  casting  some 
lead  is  required  to  keep  them  down,  the  weight 
depending  on  the  rate  of  movement  in  the  water. 
The  "streamers"  with  hackle  head  and  solid-silver 
body  are  made  in  three  different  colors,  brown, 
gray,  and  pure  white.  They  are  an  improvement 
on  a  pattern  sent  me  to  be  made  for  a  well-known 
Maine  guide,  whose  patrons  have  used  them  with 
excellent  results.  They  are  made  either  with  a 
strong  single  or  double  hook.  As  they  are  exceed- 
ingly light,  they  require  some  lead,  the  weight 
being  dependent  upon  the  rate  they  are  trolled 
through  the  water.  Lead  is  also  required  in  cast- 
ing if  the  distance  cast  is  over  thirty  feet. 


XII 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LURES  BY  A  NEW 
ADVANCED  METHOD 

The  method  of  fishing  my  nature  lures  here  given 
is  the  result  of  experience  gained  in  testing  them 
over  a  period  of  five  years.  They  are  not  intended 
to  be  hard-and-fast  rules,  but  guides  and  hints. 
They  are  applicable,  I  think,  to  any  other  lures 
lighter  than  water,  and  I  am  sufficiently  catholic 
to  agree  with  any  angler  who  has  a  desire  to  make 
his  own  rules,  should  he  find  any  better.  What 
I  try  in  every  instance  is  to  do  as  nature  does, 
or  as  near  like  it  as  I  can.  I  am  familiar  with  all 
the  methods  pursued,  both  here  and  abroad, 
both  by  reading  and  practice,  and  so  far  as  I  am 
aware  I  cannot  be  accused  of  taking  a  false  posi- 

142 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LURES  143 

tion  in  stating  my  method  to  be  a  new  one  and 
a  decided  advance  on  the  existing  methods  now 
in  vogue  in  lure  fishing.  The  difficulties  to  over- 
come have  not  by  any  means  been  slight,  and 
that  is  why  five  years  have  been  spent  in  what 
has  been  accomplished,  the  winters  in  study  and 
the  summers  in  practice,  yet  I  readily  concede 
there  is  still  much  to  improve  in  attaining  per- 
fection. My  definition  of  perfection  in  angling 
is:  to  practise  a  method  that  is  fair  to  the  fish, 
to  give  it  some  little  chance  to  display  its  gamy 
qualities;  that  is  sane  for  the  angler,  where  he 
can  get  the  most  and  the  highest  form  of  sport 
with  the  least  cruelty;  that  is  safe  to  get  the  de- 
sired result  at  any  time  or  place  he  so  chooses. 
This  fair,  sane,  safe  policy  naturally  includes  a 
certain  amount  of  intelligent  study  of  all  aspects 
of  nature,  and  the  creatures  that  abide  on  land,  in 
the  air,  or  in  the  water.  This  study,  undertaken  in  a 
proper  spirit,  will  in  most  cases  prove  more  en- 
gaging than  the  actual  fishing;  at  least,  I  have 
found  it  so  the  more  I  learn  of  it. 
All  experts  and  thoughtful  anglers  both  here 
and  in  England  consider  dry-fiy  fishing  the  highest 
art  of  angling  yet  practised.  Why  do  they  con- 
sider it  so.^  Their  answer  is:  "Because  you  use 


144  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

a  fly  that  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  insect  fish  are 
at  the  time  feeding  on."  You  are  supposed  to  cast 
it  so  that  it  floats  cocked  in  the  water,  exactly 
like  the  natural  insect;  your  fish  rises  to  the 
artificial  imitation  within  sight  of  your  vision. 
Nothing  more  is  claimed  for  this  highest  art  of 
fishing. 

My  aim  and  desire  in  the  beginning  was  to  do 
exactly  the  same  thing  with  all  others  outside  of 
insects  that  game-fish  consume  as  food — ^not  only 
trout,  but  all  fish  caught  on  rod  and  line.  However 
long  it  might  take,  and  with  a  determined  resolve 
to  buck  up  against  all  diflSculties,  I  made  up  my 
'  mind  then,  as  now,  in  a  cheerful  spirit  and  a  per- 
fect confidence  that  I  should  win'  out.  If  others 
do  not  see  it,  I  still  retain  the  satisfaction  of  prac- 
tising it  alone,  please  God,  for  some  years  to  come. 

With  every  gradual  improvement  made  in  each 
lure,  a  separate  test  has  been  made,  with  the  re- 
sult that  every  game-fish  has  been  taken  on  the 
lures,  either  by  myself  or  by  others,  even  to  the 
Atlantic  salmon,  a  twenty-seven-pound  fish  cap- 
tured on  my  minnow  by  an  angler  fishing  in  Novia 
Scotia. 

With  so  radical  a  change  as  these  nature  lures, 
it  is  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  inventor  to  de- 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LURES  145 

vise  a  proper  method  in  keeping  with  the  advanced 
step  made  in  the  lures,  and  the  method  in  brief 
is  really  a  combination  of  bait  and  fly  fishing, 
casting  out  each  lure  as  you  would  a  fly;  then 
reeling  them  in  like  a  minnow,  no  matter  what 
creature  is  the  lure.  The  knack  of  casting  a  light 
lure  with  a  long  rod  is  a  little  strange  at  first  to 
those  used  to  casting  the  fly,  but  with  a  little  prac- 
tice, which  is  hardly  possible  to  describe,  one  soon 
dexterously  places  the  lure  quite  a  distance,  at 
least  suflScient  for  the  purpose.  One  suggestion 
of  value  is,  if  there  be  suflScient  room  behind  as 
you  let  out  the  line,  your  forward  cast  should 
be  slower  every  time  you  lengthen  the  line,  both 
in  back  or  side  cast.  At  first  you  will  cast  as  I  did 
— ^too  fast,  forgetting  the  important  thing:  the 
lure  must  go  backward  the  same  distance  as  the 
previous  ca&t,  and  the  force  of  the  next  cast  takes 
it  farther  ahead.  The  only  lure  I  don't  attempt 
to  cast  as  a  fly  is  the  frog,  which  is  far  too  cumber- 
some to  cast  on  a  light,  long  trout  rod.  If  the  rod 
be  nine  feet,  I  draw  eighteen  feet  of  line  from  the 
tip — cast  it  back,  and  by  a  side-sweep  forward 
cast  manage  to  slide  out  ten,  sometimes  fifteen, 
feet  of  extra  line.  Including  the  rod,  that  makes 
forty-two  feet  distance  from  you,  which  is  suf- 


146  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

ficient  to  get  a  strike  from  the  fish  on  its  way  back 
at  least  thirty  feet.  I  often  get  bass  taking  the 
lure  within  ten  feet  of  rod  tip. 

In  river  fishing  it  is  only  on  rare  occasions  you 
need  to  cast.  I  much  prefer  to  select  places  favor- 
able to  the  lure  being  carried  along  by  the  water 
flow.  It  so  happens  trout  and  bass,  or  salmon, 
lie  in  favorable  positions  to  where  the  lure  can 
be  made  to  run  just  over  them.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  many  casts — indeed  more  casts — get  a  strike 
going  from  you,  than  coming  back.  This  unexpected 
thing  is  because  the  line  bellies  out  by  the  force 
of  the  water  and  turns  the  minnow  head  first  down- 
stream. The  trout  on  rising,  turns  to  follow  after, 
taking  a  much  better  hold  than  it  does  on  a  stiff 
full-stretched  line  on  its  backward  run.  This  same 
thing  often  happens  in  fly  fishing.  In  the  swift 
runways  where  you  know  big  trout  lie,  behind 
rocks  down  below  you,  it  is  best  to  cast  the  lure 
right  across  it  to  quieter  water  and  permit  the 
lure  to  be  gradually  forced  across,  and  back  toward 
you  far  below — ^with  extra  line  out. 

The  hardest  condition  is  when  the  river  is  so 
wide  and  deep  that  you  cannot  get  the  lure  to 
the  spot  required.  The  best  way  is  to  get  as  near 
as  possible  to  a  current  that  will  carry  a  floating 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LURES  147 

bait  down  from  you.  Currents  are  always  fruit- 
ful places  to  guide  your  lure. 

Before  leaving  the  subject,  I  consider  casting 
by  no  means  so  important  or  difficult  to  do  as 
the  manipulation  of  the  rod  tip,  which  is  intended 
to  work  the  lure  so  that  it  acts  alive  when  viewed 
by  the  fish.  To  do  so  is  art,  pure  and  simple,  and 
therefore  it  cannot  be  taught.  Neither  can  it  be 
thoroughly  well  done  unless  you  are  familiar  with 
the  antics  of  the  creature  your  lure  imitates,  either 
at  the  surface,  mid-water,  or  bottom.  Experienced 
live-bait  anglers  will  understand  best  what  I  mean 
— ^the  peculiar  half  swim,  half  jump  of  a  crawfish; 
the  wriggle  of  a  hellgrammite;  the  swift  dart  of 
a  minnow — all  these  various  lures  require  quite 
a  diflFerent  treatment  in  playing,  and,  in  doing  so, 
your  interest  is  aroused  all  the  time  till  a  strike 
is  made.  You  cannot  sleep  or  dream,  you  cannot 
even  smoke,  your  entire  attention  must  be  on 
the  lure  all  the  time,  and  the  best  results  are  ob- 
tained by  the  continuous  movement  of  the  bait 
in  the  water.  More  so,  when  the  different-sized 
minnows  are  used.  In  nature  minnows  dart  about 
with  astounding  speed,  especially  when  scared  by 
large  fish.  You  cannot  begin  to  imitate  it  in  quick- 
ness, except  in  leaping  above  the  surface,  which 


148 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


W^^W^^^ 


The  rise-to-surface  lures  and  return. 


can  be  copied 
perfectly,  by  a 
short  twist  of  the 
wrist. 

In  bottom  fish- 
ing, the  required 
action  is  entirely 
different,  because 
the  sinker  keeps 
the  lure  down. 
The  tip  needs  to 
be  raised  quickly, 
instead  of  with  a 
side  jerk.  Another 
quite  different  ac- 
tion is  required 
for  the  small  bot- 
tom nymph,  cad- 
dis-creeper, and 
trout-hellgram- 
mite,  which  are 
described  in  a 
separate  chapter 
devoted  to  them. 

We  now  come  to 
the  best  rig  to  use 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LURES  149 

for  these  lures,  and,  assuming  the  angler  to  be  one 
famiKar  with  fly  fishing,  the  regulation  trout-fly 
rod,  reel,  and  Kne,  is  best  to  cast  these  light,  float- 
ing lures  for  bass,  trout,  salmon,  or  pike — ^both  near 
the  surface  or  on  the  bottom.  For  the  heavier  and 
larger  lake-shiner,  with  five-inch  hook,  a  well-built 
rod  is  more  safe  when  fishing  in  deep  water  for 
muskellunge  or  large  lake-trout.  What  I  consider  of 
the  greatest  importance  is  the  leader  and  the  way 
lures  are  attached  to  it.  Each  and  every  lure  must 
have  a  gut  leader,  six  feet  long,  more  or  less — ^not 
less  than  three  feet.  These  light  lures  will  not 
work  or  float  attached  to  the  line  only;  gut  leaders 
are  most  necessary.  I  don't  think  anything  is 
gained  by  having  more  than  one  lure  on  the  leader, 
though  I  have  often  used  two,  or  even  three,  in 
order  to  test  which  would  first  attract  trout. 

My  favorite  testing  water  is  a  river  with  chances 
of  a  mixed  bag.  I  frequently  capture  during  one 
day  specimens  of  brown,  native,  and  rainbow 
trout.  Later,  in  the  same  water,  I  get  small-mouth 
bass,  all  four  species  being  found  in  different  situa- 
tions of  the  river.  Rainbows  occupy  the  most 
turbulent,  bass  the  quietest  and  deepest  parts; 
the  browns  generally  in  fairly  deep  pools,  and  the 
natives  in  the  ripply  shallows.  I  know,  more  or 


150  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

less,  just  what  fish  will  respond  by  the  peculiarities 
of  the  water;  so  I  provide  the  special  lure  they 
prefer.  Exceptions  occasionally  occur  to  that  rule, 
for  fishing  is  an  exceptionally  surprising  game. 
Trout  are  erratic,  doing  stunts  and  things  you 
least  expect.  At  one  rushing  torrent  I  hooked  a  fine 
rainbow  on  a  little  silver  terror,  and  felt  confidently 
sure  that  was  the  bait  for  him  at  another  similar 
place.  But  here  the  terror  failed.  I  knew  fish  were 
there,  so  I  put  on  the  trout  cricket.  This  was  in 
June,  long  before  crickets  were  abundant,  yet  the 
cricket  got  the  rainbow  where  the  terror  failed. 
This  and  some  other  experiences  go  to  show  that 
two  lures  are  wise  at  times;  though  as  a  rule  I 
prefer  only  one  on  the  leader,  and  change  it  ac- 
cording to  circumstances  as  they  arise.  When 
more  than  one  lure  is  used  on  the  leader,  the  snell 
attachment  should  be  eight  inches  long.  The  reason 
is  that  at  that  length  the  lure  will  not  so  easily 
twist  around  the  leader,  there  is  more  room  for 
the  fish  to  grab  it,  and  it  stays  out  better.  It  is  dif- 
ferent with  a  second  artificial  fly,  a  three-inch  snell 
is  enough  not  to  entangle  with  the  leader.  If  two  or 
three  are  put  on  the  leader,  the  space  apart  must  be 
two  feet,  or  even  more  when  a  long  leader  is  used. 
The  foregoing  applies  to  surface  fishing  only.  For 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LURES 


151 


bottom  fishing  I  find  from  experience  that  Hght 
buckshot  are  best,  tied  at  the  very  end  of  the 
gut  leader,  and  the  first  lure  on  the  eight-inch 
snell  placed  twelve  inches  above  the  sinker.  This 
rig  allows  the  lure  to  lie  suspended  in  the  water 
about  the  same  distance  trout  and  other  fish  usually 


Lure  fishing  in  deep  water. 


lie  from  the  sandy  bottom.  Another  lure  may  be 
fixed  above,  two  feet  higher.  In  that  situation  it 
very  often  attracts  the  fish  more  than  the  lower 
one.  This  is  because,  although  the  lower  one  may 
be  preferred,  it  may  have  been  seen  and  refused 
because  the  food  it  imitates  is  absent.  Another 
thing,  when  you  lift  the  rod  tip  to  make  the  lure 
active  and  alive,  it  draws  their  attention  more  to 
the  higher-placed  lure.  I  only  use  river-bed  creep- 


152  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

ers  for  my  lowest  lures.  The  question  whether 
creeper  lures  should  not  lie  right  on  the  bed  of 
the  river  which  some  live  creepers  in  their  natural 
state  never  leave  till  they  make  their  final  change, 
is  easily  answered  by  the  fact  that  if  the  artificial 
creeper  lies  on  the  bed,  it  is  not  so  likely  to  be 
visible.  The  action  of  the  rod  tip  forces  the  bait 
down,  then  up,  so  that  truth  to  nature  is  best 
accomplished  that  way,  by  jerking  it.  This  active 
jerk,  to  give  life  movement,  is  very  essential  to 
success;  just  the  same  as  with  live  bait,  which,  if 
it  ceases  to  kick  around  in  a  lively  manner,  re- 
duces the  chances  of  a  strike. 

If  the  reader  will  refer  to  Chapter  II,  on  Char- 
acteristic  Habits,  it  will  prove  a  sort  of  guide  how 
to  imitate  this  life  movement  with  the  artificials 
— an  art  requiring  some  practice  to  perform  well, 
yet  at  the  same  time  exceedingly  interesting  to 
do.  The  importance  of  the  peculiarly  different 
action  of  each  one  of  them  makes  considerable 
variety  in  the  method  required,  giving  added 
interest  in  the  game  every  time  you  fish.  When 
you  are  fishing  the  artificial  in  deep  though  still 
water,  it  calls  for  yet  more  skilful  rod-tip  move- 
ment, because  no  rush  of  water  assists  that  life 
movement.  All  that  can  be  done  is  to  lift  the  tip 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LUBES  153 

up,  sideways,  in  both  rapid  and  slow  jerks.  Even 
when  trolling  the  baits  in  still  water,  the  jerk 
movement  is  decidedly  good,  particularly  for 
crawfish  and  hellgrammite.  This  same  jerking  is 
good  in  live-bait  fishing,  but  with  a  limit;  because 
the  bait  may  be  jerked  oflF,  a  situation  not  pos- 
sible with  artificials. 
Rising  again  to  the  surface,  special  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  tiny  baits  on  No.  10  hooks 
— the  terror,  grasshopper,  cricket,  nymph,  caddis, 
darning-needle,  and  tiny  hellgrammite.  I  fish 
them  all,  as  I  do  flies.  They  are  no  heavier  but 
they  float  better.  All  are  deadly  baits  at  certain 
seasons  for  average-size  natives,  browns,  and 
rainbows  from  ten  to  fourteen  inches  long.  With 
the  fish  at  that  size,  these  baits  give  better  sport 
than  it  is  possible  to  get  in  any  other  way  out- 
side of  fishing  the  fly.  The  way  I  play  them  is 
superior  even  to  dry-fly  fishing  for  several  reasons, 
one  being  that  the  fishing  is  continuous,  with  no 
bother  of  drying  or  changing  your  flies.  You  can 
fish  with  success  all  day  with  any  one  of  them 
and  continue  to  capture  fish  after  you  have  tested 
the  right  one  to  use.  I  have  proved  that  both 
cricket  and  grasshopper  will  attract  trout  long  be- 
fore the  live  insects  are  abundant.  This  is  an  un- 


154 


FISHERMAN'S   LURES 


heard-of  advantage  to  have  at  hand,  ready  for  use 
at  a  moment's  notice,  any  artificial  you  want  for 
use  during  the  entire  season.  Indeed,  did  I  choose 
to  discard  trout  flies  entirely  from  my  fishing, 


New  tiny  gold  and  silver  body  fly  minnows  for  trout  and  bass. 

1.  Neversink.    2.  Willowemoc.    3.  Esopus.    4.  Beaverkill.     5.  Battenkill.    6.  Mongaup. 

I  should  still  have  along  with  me  artificials  that 
will  capture  trout  quite  as  well  at  any  time  dur- 
ing the  entire  season. 

I  am  more  convinced  every  season  that  small- 
sized  lures  are  more  effective  for  trout,  such  as  the 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LURES  155 

small  darter,  one  and  one-half  and  two  inches  long, 
or  the  little  terror,  same  size.  Both  have  captured 
fairly  big  fish  many  times.  These  small  minnows 
when  played  dexterously  round  big  boulders  in 
rough  water  are  very  effective.  Experts  will  re- 
call how  very  often  they  find  a  big  brown  trout 
lying  directly  back  of  a  large  rock,  with  rushing 
water  at  ettch  side  of  his  quiet  lair.  A  minnow 
run  down  that  rapid  water  is  bound  to  be  taken 
with  a  savage  dash. 

Another  useful  point  in  these  tiny  baits,  is  that 
they  are  easier  to  cast  to  different  spots  and  to 
get  into  diflScult  places.  They  are  not  easily  en- 
tangled or  lost  on  overhanging  branches  or  under 
the  logs  we  so  often  come  across  in  the  narrower 
places. 

Before  concluding  this  "how  to  use"  chapter, 
I  wish  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  each  individual 
angler  should  independently  endeavor  to  originate 
a  method  of  his  own  and  try  to  perfect  it  for  him- 
self, simply  noting  these  suggestions  as  guides  and 
hints — to  elevate  his  recreation  from  the  "catch- 
fish-anyhow  method"  to  the  higher,  more  perfect 
accord  with  nature,  and  to  make  his  fishing  a 
real  art  that  will  prove  not  only  intensely  inter- 
esting but  reasonable  and  sane.  For  our  own  self- 


156  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

respect,  when  we  fail  on  flies,  don't  let  us  go  and 
"dig  worms"  like  the  country  kid,  who  knows 
nothing  better.  Reluctant  as  I  am  to  compare  ex- 
isting methods,  I  know  that  even  really  expert 
fly-fishermen,  upon  finding  trout  unresponsive 
under  certain  conditions,  are  almost  certain  to 
have  a  reserve  supply  of  the  dirty  garden-worm 
tucked  away  for  such  emergencies.  The  worm  is 
all  right  for  the  plebeian  pot-fisherman;  but  for 
the  experienced  expert  a  rather  shameful  come- 
down after  which  he  cannot,  without  a  blush, 
face  his  fellows. 

I  was  fishing  the  lovely  Esopus  down-stream, 
having  caught  several  nice  fish  and  left  many 
more  that  rose  to  my  flies,  when  I  was  startled 
by  the  voice  of  a  Scotch  friend  across  the  stream 
below  me.  It  was  a  hot  morning  with  low  water, 
just  before  Decoration  Day.  Most  of  what  I  caught 
were  taken  early  in  the  day.  My  friend,  a  real 
good  fellow,  rigged  up  with  both  clothing  and 
tackle  in  the  most  expensive  style :  his  cap  covered 
over  completely  with  artificial  files;  he  had  the 
best  of  Leonard  rods,  and  a  very  fine  English  reel 
and  dry-fiy  line,  to  which  at  the  end  of  his  leader 
hung  a  bunch  of  big  night-walker  worms.  "Had 
any  luck?"  he  bawled  across.  "Yes;  a  few  and 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LURES  157 

several  rose  just  above  here!"  ''Well,  I  can't  get 
'em,  with  anything!"  "You  would,"  I  replied, 
"if  you  fastened  that  cap  of  yours  on  the  leader 
and  take  off  that  chunk  of  beefsteak;  then  there 
would  be  some  chance  to  get  trout."  "Oh,"  said 
he,  "I'm  sick  of  casting  and  changing  flies;  I  want 
to  choke  them  with  this."  I  have  seen  numberless 
examples  of  this  same  attitude — aside  from  the 
country  worm-plugger — of  many  expert  fly-fisher- 
men, who,  if  unsuccessful  with  dry  and  wet  flies, 
turn  to  what  they  term,  "the  inevitable  worm," 
and  that  usually  fails  too. 

It  is  this  attitude  which  I  wish  to  counteract 
with  my  nature  lures  by  filling  that  void  when 
trout  refuse  flies.  In  bygone  days  I  did  as  the  others 
do,  "turned  to  worms,"  and  failed;  but  now,  with 
a  selection  of  surface  and  bottom  lures,  when 
these  adverse  conditions  arise,  I  can  and  do  cap- 
ture more  and  larger  fish  with  the  lures  than  I 
usually  do  with  flies.  As  explained  in  almost  every 
chapter  of  this  book,  the  reason  is  obvious:  trout 
are  sometimes  gorged  with  flies  or  feeding  below  on 
other  food  which  my  lures  correctly  imitate;  not 
only  in  appearance,  but  in  action;  so  that  if  they 
are  used  by  this  new  method,  success  will  be  ac- 
complished that  would  be  impossible  in  other  ways. 


158  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

Before  closing  this  chapter  I  would  say  for  the 
benefit  of  amateurs  that  my  suggested  regulation 
outfit  for  trout  fishing  is  somewhat  ambiguous. 
Personal  preference  plays  a  great  part  in  what  is  or 
can  be  spent  on  the  outfit.  I  know  of  a  fly-fisher- 
man who  pays  one  hundred  dollars  every  season 
for  a  new  Leonard  rod  built  to  order.  Whether 
he  needs  a  new  one  or  not,  he  gets  one.  This,  of 
course,  to  the  prudent  man  of  moderate  means 
is  pure  wastefulness,  and  an  incentive  to  breed 
reprehensible  pride  and  boasting  of  our  fishing- 
tools.  After  all,  the  rod,  however  splendid,  is  no 
attraction  to  the  fish.  They  don't  bite  it,  and  a 
good  all-round  workmanlike  rod  of  nine  feet  (more 
or  less),  weighing  five  or  six  ounces,  if  thoroughly 
well  made  for  general  use,  at  from  twenty  to  fifty 
dollars,  is  a  tool  that  will  suffice  for  almost  any- 
thing. One  that  while  fishing  needs  no  thought 
or  worry  as  to  breaking  from  being  either  too 
light  or  too  heavy.  The  rigor  of  the  game  requires 
the  rod  to  be  a  part  of  you,  to  do  naturally  just 
what  you  want  of  it.  Indeed,  a  favorite  rod  in 
time  becomes  a  sort  of  hobby,  that  to  change  for 
another  would  grieve  us.  For  the  small,  light  lures 
I  use  my  best  English  '*  Hardy,"  tapered  dry- 
fly  line,  which  enormously  facilitates  casting — 


HOW  TO  USE  NATURE  LURES  159 

much  more  so  than  a  flat  Hne  of  even  thickness. 
For  the  larger  lures  and  bottom  fishing,  casting, 
or  trolHng,  I  use  a  fine  linen  line,  called  the  "Avia- 
tor," made  by  the  Ashaway  Co.,  Rhode  Island. 

Reels,  like  rods,  are  also  personal — ^what  you 
will.  They  should,  however,  fit  the  rod  in  weight 
and  size,  and  should  be  free  running,  with  a  good 
click,  and  the  barrel  of  ample  size  to  hold  the  line. 
I  use  a  take-apart  bass  reel  for  aviator  line,  and 
a  Mills  "Neversink"  trout  reel  for  the  dry-fly 
line.  If  more  expensive  reels  are  required,  the 
tackle  dealer  with  a  smiling  face  can  furnish  them. 

The  only  gut  leader  worthy  to  fish  with  is  one 
that  is  tapered,  and  snell  attachments  must  be 
the  same  thickness  of  guts  as  that  of  the  leader 
where  tied,  and  all  ties  must  be  knots  instead  of 
loops. 

Nevertheless,  a  true  fact  remains:  the  fish  you 
desire  to  get  are  attracted,  absolutely  alone,  by 
the  lure  you  offer.  The  rest  of  the  rig  is  incidental, 
and  of  less  importance.  You  are  absolutely  cer- 
tain to  get  fish  with  a  good  lure  and  gut  leader, 
even  if  you  use  a  pole  cut  from  the  forest  and  a 
ball  of  twine,  though  the  sport  may  not  be  great, 
but  you  cannot  get  fish  with  a  poor  lure  on  the 
finest  rod,  reel,  and  line  ever  bought.  Therefore, 


160 


FISHERMAN'S  LURES 


for  sure  success,  first  pay  attention  to  the  lure; 
make  a  good  one  yourself,  or  procure  a  selection 
that  is  good,  and  use  a  method  that  is  sure,  safe, 
and  sane. 


CQRn  >BACK 


XIII 

ADVICE  TO  ANGLERS  ON  HOW  TO  MAKE 
THEIR  OWN  NATURE  LURES 

In  the  course  of  five  years'  study  of  game-fish  food 
and  making  artificial  imitations  of  it,  I  entirely 
laid  aside  a  profession  I  dearly  love — that  of  an 
artist.  I  did  so  because  I  found  this  work  even 
more  attractive;  indeed,  so  fascinating  as  to  form 
in  my  mind,  gradually,  it  is  true,  a  wish  and  hope 
to  change  existing  conditons  for  a  better  method 
in  the  art  of  fishing  for  the  benefit  of  all  anglers. 
At  the  beginning  I  thought  if  my  projected  im- 
provement were  sound  and  really  better,  I  could 
then  pass  it  along  for  others  to  do  likewise — ^if 
they  wanted.  I  am  sane  enough  to  be  very  sure 
I  could  not  alone  make  a  supply  sufficient  for  what 

161 


162  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

would  be  required  if  the  baits,  after  tests,  were 
found  good;  even  supposing  I  turned  the  products 
of  my  brain  into  a  commercial  enterprise  or  busi- 
ness concern.  But  for  such  a  project  I  have  no 
taste  or  talent  whatever.  I  shall  therefore  just 
briefly  describe  the  rudiments  and  materials  re- 
quired in  making  several  of  the  most  important 
baits.  It  would  take  this  entire  volume  to  cover 
the  subject  thoroughly.  As  in  all  delicate  handi- 
craft, to  do  it  well,  patience  and  care  are  the  main 
things.  Those  who  have  time,  a  deft  hand  at  carv- 
ing wood  and  cork,  a  delicate  manipulation  in 
working  silk,  fine  wire,  and  a  little  artistic  skill 
with  a  paint-brush — ^all  these  have  a  decided  ad- 
vantage to  begin  with — that  much  less  to  learn. 
But  continued  practice  in  the  end  brings  skill, 
at  least  enough  to  make  a  lure  which  however 
crude  may  be  good  enough  to  capture  trout  and 
other  fish,  which  many  guides  do.  But  it  will  not 
be  wise  to  attempt  to  make  some  of  my  more 
complicated  lures,  unless  considerable  time  is 
available.  It  will  not  be  found  easy  work,  even 
with  a  pattern  taken  apart,  lying  before  the  ama- 
teur bait-maker.  One  thing  it  will  surely  do  will 
be  to  make  him  realize  what  labor  has  been  spent 
to  get  so  far,  even  though  with  great  pleasure  and 


HOW  TO  MAKE  NATURE  LURES  163 

delight.  By  far  the  greatest  number  of  anglers 
who  write  me  for  advice  are  doctors  and  dentists 
who  want  to  make  their  own  baits. 
For  the  construction  of  floating  lures,  the  prin- 
cipal materials  are  cork,  used  for  backs  of  frogs  and 
minnows,  bodies  of  crawfish,  hellgrammites,  crick- 
ets, and  grasshoppers.  Next  come  hard,  heavy  wood 
for  bellies  of  frogs  and  minnows,  so  as  to  balance 
and  make  the  baits  float  without  turning  over  and 
to  swim  upright;  metal-sheets,  tinsel,  soft  wire, 
varied  colored  rafiia  grass,  a  large  variety  both  in 
size  and  color  of  hackle  feathers ;  thread,  silk,  mer- 
cerized cotton,  and  worsted  of  many  colors  and 
thicknesses,  eyed  hooks  of  every  description,  oil- 
paints  and  artist's  brushes,  good  spar  varnish, 
white  shellac,  turpentine,  alcohol,  black  wax,  white 
wax,  various  grades  of  sandpaper — and  an  assorted 
variety  of  bristles,  thick,  thin,  white  and  black. 
For  my  own  requirements,  I  must  keep  a  full 
stock  of  feathers,  complete  skins  of  game-birds, 
from  turkey  to  quail,  from  wild  goose  to  numerous 
species  of  ducks,  and  many  other  birds,  also  some 
remnants  of  furs,  tails  of  deer,  skunk,  fox,  squirrel, 
and  hogs'  bristles.  These  must  all  be  kept  in  glass 
or  tin-covered  jars  to  be  free  from  moths.  It  is  well 
to  know  how  to  use  Diamond  dyes,  and  to  keep 


164  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

selected  packages  of  red,  blue,  yellow,  green,  and 
black — to  dye  white  hackle  feathers. 

The  tools  required  in  fly-tying  are  very  few  com- 
pared to  those  required  for  making  lures.  Each 
material  calls  for  different,  very  sharp  knives, 
sharp-pointed,  some  very  thin,  others  strong, 
files  of  every  description,  pincers,  tweezers,  sharp- 
pointed  borers,  and  numerous  scissors.  A  vise  is 
in  constant  use,  which  should  be  stoutly  fastened 
to  the  work-table;  also  various  saws,  mostly  fine 
tooth,  and  small  hammers  of  various  weights.  Of 
course,  any  angler  who  merely  desires  to  fabricate  a 
few  lures  would  never  dream  of  stocking  up  with 
the  above  list  of  things;  but  I  give  them  in  a  general 
way,  because  each  one  may  desire  to  make  dif- 
ferent baits.  The  great  trouble  will  be  found  in 
procuring  small  quantities,  which  are  far  more 
expensive  and  difficult  to  get.  The  tackle  dealer 
fights  shy  of  an  order  for  half  a  dozen  No.  2/0 
small  hooks  or  the  like — ^which,  if  ordered  by  the 
box  of  one  hundred,  are  very  different  in  price. 
Tackle  dealers  do  not  supply  any  material  or 
tools  required  for  making  baits,  except  hooks. 
Wood-turners  supply  wood  of  any  kind,  cut  to 
shape  from  patterns  supplied  them.  Cork  houses 
do  the  same;  they  furnish  cork  in  pieces  any  shape 


HOW  TO  MAKE  NATURE  LURES  165 

or  size  required.  RaflSa  grass  in  various  colors  may 
be  purchased  from  large  seedsmen;  for  special 
colors  required,  I  buy  the  natural  cream-colored 
grass  and  dye  it  to  suit. 

For  the  shining  gold  and  silver  metal-sheets  I 
have  had  years  of  difficult  work  to  get  just  the 
right  thing.  For  the  first  of  my  minnows,  the  wood 
was  covered  with  gold  and  silver  leaf,  which  proved 
a  failure.  Then,  in  succession,  I  tried  rolled  ster- 
ling silver,  tinfoil,  sheet  aluminum.  After  infinite 
trouble  at  last  I  succeeded  in  the  present  material 
used,  and  find  it  to  be  the  perfect  article  for  the 
purpose,  that  will  keep  its  lustre  and  not  rust  in 
fresh  or  salt  water. 

This  metal  being  my  own  invention,  I  cannot  for 
obvious  reasons  at  present  divulge  the  method  of 
manufacture.  I  can  get  a  small  quantity  for  those 
who  require  it.  The  different  grades  of  wire  I  use 
are  soft  and  pliable — what  used  to  be  called  Ger- 
man silver,  to  be  procured  from  hardware  stores 
or  wire  dealers.  The  remaining  materials  can  be 
had  at  the  various  dry  goods  houses.  Hackle  and 
other  feathers  must  be  hunted  for,  in  all  directions, 
at  poultrymen,  feather  dealers,  and  millinery 
shops. 

If  the  amateur  bait-maker  will  look  at  the  page  of 


166  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

baits,  he  will  at  once  get  a  general  idea  of  the  form 
and  outline  of  what  he  wants  to  make.  To  best  ac- 
complish his  object,  he  should  procure  a  sample  as 
a  pattern  and  take  it  apart  to  start  right.  Take  the 
green  leopard-frog  as  an  example  to  first  experiment 
with.  Those  who  don't  know  say  that  the  finished 
objects  look  very  simple  and  easy  to  make.  The 
first  raw  separate  parts  cut  are  the  back  and  thighs, 
of  cork,  the  belly  of  hard  wood.  The  thighs  are 
tied  with  twisted  wire  looped,  to  connect  the  legs. 
The  legs  are  made  separate  with  pieces  of  cork 
wound  over  the  small  hook  with  raflfia  grass,  and 
silk  toes  are  reinforced  with  a  thinner  wire,  the 
thighs  being  held  in  place  by  a  heavy  wire  run- 
ning through  inside  the  body.  After  that  the  back 
and  belly  are  put  together  after  being  painted  with 
shellac,  with  the  long  shank  hook  between  them; 
then  wound  tight  with  strong  wire.  The  raw  ma- 
terial is  then  ready  for  painting.  First,  a  coat  of 
common  white  paint  on  the  belly  and  green  on 
the  back.  When  dry,  the  belly  has  a  coat  of  white 
enamel;  the  white  eyes  and  a  stroke  down  the 
back  are  made  at  the  same  time.  Black,  yellow,  and 
orange  colors  are  then  applied,  and  after  being 
thoroughly  dried,  you  are  ready  to  varnish  with 
two  coats  of  spar.  After  the  varnish  is  well  dried. 


HOW  TO  MAKE  NATURE  LURES  167 

the  eyes  are  pushed  in  the  cork  by  a  common  short 
pin  through  a  black  bead.  To  get  proper  results, 
make  tests  before  paint  is  appHed  by  placing  the 
raw  frog  in  water  to  find  out  if  it  floats  true,  and 
the  legs  hang  down  to  move  at  the  slightest  touch. 
The  frog  should  float  with  its  head  just  under 
water. 

To  make  the  crawfish,  the  body  is  first  carved 
out  to  shape  from  cork,  and  the  separate  tail  like- 
wise. From  a  turkey's  tail  feather,  you  cut  an 
inch  piece  and  wind  it  on  the  body,  making  the 
winds  divide  the  legs  and  claws  on  each  side,  hav- 
ing the  large  hook  placed  over  the  feather  legs. 
In  all  cases  where  hooks  are  fastened  on  cork  or 
wood  bodies,  it  is  necessary  to  wind  waxed  thread 
along  the  shank  in  order  to  make  the  hook  firm 
and  not  twist  out  of  place.  In  most  cases  this  is 
fixed  with  white  liquid  shellac,  to  hold  it  tight. 
The  cork  tail  is  made  separate  from  the  body  and 
is  tied  around  with  light  and  dark  brown  mercer- 
ized cotton,  covering  over  the  feather  tail,  which 
is  the  top  part  of  turkey's  tail  feather  with  a  touch 
of  squirrel's  hair  from  the  tail.  Before  winding 
cotton,  a  slit  is  made  in  the  cork  for  the  lesser 
upright  hook,  which  is  wound  over  very  tight. 
The  two  parts  are  now  ready  for  connecting,  which 


168  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

is  done  by  a  brad  put  through  the  tail  hook-eye; 
then  thrust  in  the  body.  The  bait  is  now  ready 
for  its  coat  of  paint,  which  is  done  in  various  browns 
on  the  back  and  white  paint  under  the  body.  The 
horns  of  thick  fibre  are  tied  on  with  wire,  and  the 
eyes  are  a  pair  of  black  beads  stuck  in  with  a  pin. 
The  whole  bait  is  then  varnished  with  spar,  ex- 
cept the  wound  cotton  on  the  tail. 
The  cricket,  grasshopper,  hellgrammite,  and 
others  are  all  cut  to  shape  from  cork,  and  painted. 
The  legs  are  formed  of  small  feather-quills,  the 
horns  and  tails  being  tied  on  the  body  with  fine  silk 
and  then  painted  and  varnished.  The  hellgram- 
mite is  cork  body,  wound  over  with  raflSa  grass 
of  black  color  for  head  and  olive-green  for  body. 
The  feelers  are  cut  pieces  of  brown  ostrich-feather 
fibres,  which  are  wound  along  the  body  with  black 
silk,  and  the  belly  is  painted  a  dull  cream  color. 
The  body  is  tied  with  wire  at  head  and  tail  to 
hook,  then  varnished.  The  minnows  are  made 
in  a  number  of  ways,  the  largest  having  backs 
of  cork,  carefully  cut  to  shape  and  then  wound 
over  with  rafiia  on  to  the  hook.  The  belly  is  cut 
to  shape  of  hardwood,  covered  over  with  metal 
cut  to  fit;  then  both  are  held  together  with  heavy 
wire.  The  horizontal  side  pieces  of  colored  raflSa 


HOW  TO  MAKE  NATURE  LURES  169 

are  tied  on  close  to  the  hook-eye  for  the  purpose 
of  hiding  the  open  division  of  the  two  parts.  The 
tail  is  tied  on  to  the  cork  before  the  raffia  is  wound 
over  it.  The  plume  is  a  selection  of  feathers  first 
bunched  together,  then  tied  on,  near  the  eye,  at  the 
very  last.  The  raffia  on  the  minnows  should  be  var- 
nished, but  leave  the  metal  as  it  is.  The  smaller 
minnows  are  much  more  simple  and  it  is  advisa- 
ble to  make  trials  of  them  first.  The  smallest 
tiny  minnows  are  merely  wound  with  mercerized 
cotton  round  the  hook  shank  to  pad  it  thicker  for 
the  cut  metal  to  be  tied  over  with  wire.  The  small 
mixed  feather  plumes  are  tied  in  separate  bunches, 
then  fastened  on  at  the  last.  The  terror  and  feather 
minnows  have  a  thin  piece  of  cork  cut  to  shape  tied 
to  the  shank,  with  the  covering  of  metal  wound 
over  it,  with  plumes  as  before.  Many  Maine  and 
Canadian  guides  send  me  crude,  self-made  min- 
nows as  specimens,  asking  me  to  tie  a  number  for 
them  like  pattern,  with  improvements  to  be  made 
as  I  see  fit;  and  I  have  received  several  excellent 
kinks  from  them,  which  I  have  found  most  valuable 
as  suggestions  to  improve  on.  I  have  had  two  very 
good  ideas  furnished  me  by  doctors,  who  seem  to 
particularly  enjoy  this  interesting  work. 
The  difficult  thing  is  to  get  materials  for  those 


170  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

who  live  away  from  cities  and  the  stores  which 
carry  them,  and  for  me  to  gather  together  small 
quantities.  Coupled  with  considerable  informa- 
tion, correspondence  takes  time  and  expense. 
With  materials  at  hand,  a  number  of  different- 
sized  minnows  can  be  easily  made  with  a  little  care 
and  patience,  for  the  principal  thing  is  cutting 
and  shaping,  tying  cork  and  wood  to  the  hook, 
and  covering  it  over  neatly  with  the  metal. 

Finally,  it  is  wise  to  abstain  from  trying  com- 
plicated baits  like  nymph  and  caddis,  as  they  are 
more  in  line  of  tying  flies,  which  would  require  a 
repetition  on  that  subject,  fully  described  in  my 
book  Trout  Stream  Insects. 

The  main  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  instil  in 
the  angler  the  habit  of  trusting  more  to  his  own 
intellectual  interest  in  the  craft  rather  than  being 
at  the  mercy  of  the  tackle  or  bait  dealer  for  such 
minor  requirements  as  special  baits — important 
though  it  be  to  have  them.  Of  course  the  majority 
of  anglers  think  they  have  no  time  to  bother  with 
this  interesting  subject;  yet  the  time  required  is 
less  than  they  spend  in  getting  and  keeping  live 
bait  fit  for  fishing,  including  the  loss  of  time  in 
vain  effort  to  get  sport  under  present  conditions. 
In  any  event,  if  you  possess  really  good  artificial 


HOW  TO  MAKE  NATURE  LURES  171 

lures,  self-made  or  bought,  you  are  independent — 
safe  to  get  fish — and  you  will  find  much  less  to 
vex  you  in  the  sport  in  which  you  wish  to  perfect 
yourself.  Your  situation  will  be  found  very  com- 
forting in  carrying  along  little  boxes  of  these  lures, 
ready  to  use  at  any  time  you  wish,  without  any 
of  the  tribulations  mentioned  in  Chapter  X. 


XIV 


NOTES  ON  THE  BREEDING  AND  PLANTING 

OF  GAME-FISH  FOOD  BY  PRIVATE  AND 

STATE  HATCHERIES 

Up  to  the  present  time  fish  culturists,  private 
fish  breeders,  anglers,  and  others  interested  in  the 
subject  of  this  chapter  have  not  yet  even  thought 
of  such  a  thing  as  to  provide  game-fishes  with 
proper  food.  Their  whole  energies  have  been  to 
breed  all  the  game-fish  possible,  to  dump  them 
in  the  waters  of  brooks,  rivers,  and  lakes,  then 
let  nature  do  the  rest;  forgetting  the  undeniable 
truth  that  "nature  is  not  always  kindly  disposed." 
The  little  game-fishes  they  let  loose  are  very 
young  and  tender,  with  no  motherly  care  to  pro- 
tect them  from   their  many   enemies,   their  in- 

172 


BREEDING  OF  GAME-FISH  FOOD  173 

stinct  being  the  only  guide  to  assist  them  in  the 
battle  of  Ufe — often,  alas,  against  their  own 
parents  and  other  species  of  fish,  as  well  as  many 
birds,  beasts,  and  reptiles,  and  last  but  not  least, 
man.  Now,  I  would  ask  a  reasonable  question: 
Does  any  sane  individual,  if  he  thinks  at  all, 
imagine  such  a  loose,  wasteful,  unscientific  method 
is  adequate  to  keep  up  an  abundant  supply  of 
game-fish  to  withstand  the  assault's  of  an  ever- 
increasing  army  of  anglers  and  a  growing  popula- 
tion of  villages  and  towns  near  by  trout  streams 
and  other  game-fish  waters  into  which  they  plant 
fish? 
Abundance  of  food — ^the  proper  kind  required  for 
each  species  of  fish — ^never  enters  the  mind  of 
those  individuals  who  own  ponds,  lakes,  and 
streams,  or  who  would  like  to  make  artificial  fish 
waters  by  a  system  of  dams  or  irrigation.  Even 
private  club  waters  persist  in  feeding  young  game- 
fish  on  putrid  food  that  only  induces  disease  and 
death  to  their  fish.  I  receive  many  requests  for 
information  concerning  what  species  of  fish  is  best 
to  plant  in  their  water,  and  whether  certain  species 
will  abide  amicably  with  one  another.  How  is  it 
possible  for  such  questions  to  be  answered  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  what  kind  of  food  is  avail- 


174  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

able  for  the  fish  when  planted  to  subsist  upon? 
It  seems  to  be  generally  taken  for  granted,  even 
by  fish  culturists,  that  fish  can  live  on  nothing, 
or  something  repellent  to  their  appetite;  or  that 
fish  can  perhaps  grow  their  own  food.  Is  such  a 
thing  expected  of  any  other  creature  in  the  air 
or  on  land?  The  unquestioned,  undeniable  fact 
is  that  food  is  the  one  vital  thing  that  means  suc- 
cess to  keep  up  ample  and  reasonable  supply  to 
meet  the  demand  of  'Aplenty  of  big  fish"  so  often 
asked  for. 

Of  course,  fish  culturists  cannot  of  their  own 
initiative  take  up  such  an  important  work  to  any 
great  extent,  but  they  can  and  ought  to  be  the 
means  of  calling  the  attention  of  higher  State 
ofiicials  to  the  wisdom  of  it,  and  the  great  benefits 
to  the  people  at  large,  aside  from  anglers. 

Fresh-water  food-fish,  indeed  marine  fish,  are  now 
expensive;  a  luxury  only  the  rich  can  command. 
Fresh-water  fish  should  be  made  and  can  be  made 
so  plentiful  without  great  cost  as  to  be  within 
the  reach  of  all,  at  a  very  low  cost.  Such  a  con- 
dition existed  until  within  recent  years.  Twenty- 
five  years  ago  I  could  buy  at  Kingston,  N.  Y.,  a 
four-pound  buck  shad  for  fifteen  cents.  A  dollar 
now  would  not  buy  its  roe.  A  century  ago  servants 


BREEDING  OF  GAME-FISH  FOOD  175 

and  work-people  protested — indeed  a  law  was 
enacted — that  employers  should  not  feed  their 
servants  on  Kennebec  salmon  more  than  three 
times  in  one  week — a  privilege  those  employers 
living  in  our  day  would  be  pleased  to  enjoy. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  a  vast  quantity 
of  bottled  minnows,  pickled  in  ''spirits,"  are  sold 
as  bait  in  the  tackle  shops  every  season.  They  are 
really  not  effective  baits,  yet  I  am  told  by  the 
dealers  that  anglers  want  to  have  them  along 
on  their  trips  as  a  substitute  for  live  bait  they 
might  fail  to  get  when  most  wanted.  I  assume 
these  minnows,  or  young  of  other  fish,  are  seined 
in  the  Great  Lakes.  How  much  more  valuable 
they  would  be  to  the  angler  were  they  transferred 
when  alive  to  the  rivers  and  ponds  where  game- 
fish  need  them  to  feed  and  grow  big.  A  similar 
unwise  and  deplorable  condition  prevails  in  the 
sale  of  vast  quantities  of  live  hellgrammites,  frogs, 
crawfish,  and  crickets,  which  depletes  the  available 
food  for  game-fishes  to  a  greater  degree  than  is 
good  for  the  people's  welfare  in  any  section  of 
our  country. 

In  Chapter  I  are  given  some  points  on  the  "Im- 
portance of  Minnows,"  and  in  the  "Introductory 
Note,"  I  plead  to  encourage  the  growth  of  game- 


176  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

fish.  To  successfully  accomplish  these  two  im- 
portant benefits  for  the  people  at  large,  the  angler 
should  have  the  most  vital  interest  in  it.  It  is 
the  large  and  growing  army  of  anglers,  collected 
together  from  all  sections,  upon  whom  the  duty 
lies  to  improve  conditions.  They  must  not  stand 
by  and  take  things  good-humoredly,  for  their  own 
self-interest  they  should  start  in  by  means  of  a 
polite  yet  strongly  worded  letter  to  the  governor 
of  the  State  or  to  the  heads  of  Game  and  Con- 
servation Commission,  suggesting  that  the  indis- 
putable fact  of  breeding  more  food  will  produce 
better  results  than  their  present  methods  of  waste- 
ful overstocking.  If  State  and  private  hatcheries 
are  not  large  or  suitable  enough  without  additional 
accommodation  for  such  work,  it  can  be  done  ef- 
fectively by  utilizing  swamp  waste  waters  to  be 
found  in  almost  every  township  of  the  land.  The 
canals,  for  instance,  many  of  them  not  now  in  use, 
are  a  splendid  field  for  planting  and  breeding  all 
kinds  of  fish  food,  enough  indeed  to  satisfy  all 
needs. 
Finally,  the  most  crying  need  NOW  is  to  put 
a  full  and  immediate  stop  to  the  expensive  waste 
of  overstocking  game-fishes  and  replace  the  sur- 
plus with  fish  food,  so  that  in  the  near  future 


BREEDING  OF  GAME-FISH  FOOD 


177 


sportsmen  of  larger  cities  and  of  humming  indus- 
trial hives  may  not  be  forced  to  take  long  jour- 
neys to  wild  lands  near  the  North  Pole  for  their 
vacation  fishing. 


^tttpMS^pRi'i 


XV 

WHY  PRESENT-DAY  ARTIFICIALS  ARE 

INEFFECTIVE  AND  NOT  POPULAR 

WITH  EXPERT  ANGLERS 

Readers  are  invited  to  compare  this  chapter 
and  the  chapter-head  drawing  with  certain  de- 
tails given  throughout  this  volume  of  the  advan- 
tages to  be  gained  by  using  floating  nature  lures 
and  the  method  employed  in  using  them,  and 
then  consider  how  needful  are  the  radical  changes 
suggested. 
There  are  thousands  of  machine-made  rubber 
frights  now  sold,  mostly  to  those  new  to  the  craft, 
to  children,  and  to  anglers  who  will  take  any- 
thing offered  without  thinking.  Reference  is  made 
more  especially  to  those  lures  stitched  on  a  card 

178 


PRESENT-DAY  ARTIFICIALS  ARE  INEFFECTIVE    179 

exposed  for  sale  in  the  tackle  shops,  compris- 
ing rubber  *' imitations"  of  frogs,  hellgrammites, 
worms,  crickets,  grasshoppers,  minnows,  etc.  You 
never  observe  them  in  the  expert's  kit.  He  is, 
however,  well  stocked  with  the  ever-changing 
fashion  in  plugs  and  other  devices.  With  such  I 
am  persuaded  to  believe  he  does  catch  fish;  mostly 
bass  and  pickerel,  when,  after  considerable  prac- 
tice in  casting,  he  learns  just  how  to  use  them.  I 
have  no  interest  in  debating  the  subject  whether 
he  fully  enjoys  his  sport  or  why  I  should  try  to 
induce  him  to  change  his  method.  Such  a  change, 
if  it  ever  comes,  will  occur  naturally,  of  his  own 
initiative;  more  especially  from  his  observations 
of  what  others  get  from  their  sport  as  compared 
with  him. 

These  rubber  images,  which  in  place  of  a  better 
title  I  call  ''frights,"  aside  from  the  inartistic  and 
poor  imitation  of  the  creatures  intended,  have 
the  hooks  always  placed  in  the  wrong  position. 
Were  it  by  accident  swallowed  by  the  fish,  the 
hook  would  not  take  hold.  Most  important  of 
all,  their  weight  takes  them  plump  to  the  bot- 
tom, and  if  pulled  through  the  water  their  form 
makes  a  motion  entirely  different  from  what  the 
creature  does  in  nature.  They  may  deceive  ig- 


180  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

norant  men  and  boys;  they  seldom  deceive  the 
fish,  but  are  more  Hkely  to  scare  them  ofif.  The 
expert  knows  it  and  avoids  them.  On  present-day 
plugs  and  bugs,  of  which  there  are  legion  that 
claim  to  be  effective  for  bass  and  a  few  for  trout, 
I  think  it  best  to  refrain  from  comment  out  of 
politeness  to  their  inventors,  who  frankly  state 
they  are  not  intended  to  imitate  any  kind  of  fish 
food.  They  are  offered  to  the  discerning  angler 
with  the  sole  object  of  attracting  and  capturing 
fish.  If  such  be  really  accomplished,  all  is  well. 
If  the  angler  chooses  to  have  the  same  ideas,  all 
that  is  well  too — ^for  him.  Manufacturers  will  con- 
tinue to  make,  and  dealers  will  continue  to  sell, 
anything,  effective  or  not,  so  long  as  there  are 
people  ignorant  enough  to  buy  them. 

It  has  been  my  privilege  to  correspond  with  a 
very  large  number  of  anglers  all  over  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  and  I  have  been  much  im- 
pressed how  many  of  them  want  changes  for  the 
better;  want  to  study,  to  learn  more,  not  only  of 
the  craft,  but  of  habits  and  habitats  of  fish,  and 
the  food  they  take.  The  present  methods  and  the 
present  lures  do  not  satisfy  them,  as  men  who 
think — discerning  anglers.  Of  course  there  are  some 
people  who  are  so  complacent  of  their  ability  that 


PRESENT-DAY  ARTIFICIALS  ARE  INEFFECTIVE    181 

they  have  no  use  for  the  opinions  of  experts  or 
of  anybody,  but  they  go  right  to  the  tackle  dealer, 
ask  for  anything  that  will  get  fish  in  the  easiest 
way  possible,  and  the  dealer  gives  them  the  best 
he  has  at  hand.  If  the  complacent,  self-satisfied 
man  fails,  he  does  not  blame  anybody,  but  says: 
"What  a  darn  fool  I  am  to  go  fishing,  anyway." 
In  the  evolution  of  this  important  section  of  the 
angler's  craft  I  can  now  speak  with  far  greater 
confidence  than  I  could  five  years  ago  when  Trout 
Stream  Insects  was  published.  The  matter  has 
ceased  to  be  experimental  or  visionary,  to  judge 
not  only  from  hundreds  of  testimonials  received 
from  experts  and  amateurs  who  express  pleasure 
at  the  success  of  my  new  theories.  We  see  the  plug 
dying  a  slow  death,  which  rather  dubiously  I  pre- 
dicted would  soon  happen,  and  we  now  see  the  chief 
manufacturers  of  them  making  rods — so  far,  as  a 
side  issue.  The  cry  now  is  bugs;  bugs  of  all  possi- 
ble shapes  and  materials  that  do  wonders:  Light- 
ning-bugs, thunder-bugs,  devil-bugs,  nature  bugs, 
illuminated  bugs  and  minnows  for  night  work;  even 
pieces  of  hogskin  make  claim  to  beat  the  plug  and 
everything  else.  Suppose  they  do;  it's  all  the  same; 
they  will  soon  have  their  day  and  fall  down  from 
anglers'  esteem  in  the  evolution  for  better  things. 


182  FISHERMAN'S  LURES 

The  right,  indeed  the  only  way,  will  take  its  proper 
rank.  Anglers  will,  in  time,  I  hope,  fabricate  their 
own  lures  to  suit  their  own  special  wants.  They 
will  simply  be  going  back  to  the  primitive  times 
of  handicraft,  when  even  the  savage  skilfully 
worked  the  most  simple  materials  nature  provided 
him  with.  Of  course,  having  no  tackle  shops,  he 
had  to  do  it  or  starve;  but  the  savage  did  not 
starve,  neither  did  he  go  short  of  fish.  He  was 
wiser  and  far  more  humane  and  skilful  than  we. 
The  remarkable  fact  is  that  he  took  nature  for 
his  guide,  this  savage.  Be  he  Redskin  or  Lap,  he 
fully  understood  the  habits  and  haunts  of  the 
game  he  stalked.  That  is  precisely  the  attitude 
I  want  anglers  to  take. 

It  is  not  so  much  my  baits  I  desire  used  as  the 
adoption  of  my  theory,  my  method,  and  my  ob- 
ject in  fishing.  Use  your  own,  self-made  baits  by 
all  means;  only  think  what  you  lose  by  the  pres- 
ent method.  No  matter  what  bait  you  choose,  I 
verily  believe,  you  can  catch  fish.  But,  my  dear 
angling  brother,  you  can  catch  better  than  fish 
along  with  the  fish:  Your  self-esteem,  your  self- 
respect  for  your  higher  efforts,  and  a  love  of  na- 
ture. You  will  find  your  entire  life  on  the  streams 
to  be  different.  You  will  cease  to  boast  and  to  brag 


PRESENT-DAY  ARTIFICIALS  ARE  INEFFECTIVE    183 

of  the  number  and  the  size  caught,  giving  vent  to 
all  the  petty  jealousies  and  devious  dodges  to  beat 
your  companion  on  the  stream.  You  will  no  longer 
be  "tickled  to  death"  to  see  yourself  among  the 
everlasting  representations  now  exposed  to  view  in 
the  sporting  magazines — ^with  that  insipid  smile 
— ^standing  in  perspective,  far  behind  a  string  of 
fish  magnified  three  times  their  actual  size — ^the 
greater  the  number,  the  greater  the  shame.  You 
will  forget  all  the  meaner  aspects  of  the  vacant- 
minded,  ignorant  doings  and  sayings  of  the  vulgar. 
In  fact,  you  will  become  a  true  disciple  of  Saint 
Peter,  the  patron  of  all  good  anglers. 


INDEX 


Artificial  bait,  advantage  of,  2,  8; 
art  of  making,  128, 129;  directions 
for  making,  163-169;  leaders  for, 
preferably  f  '  149 ;  machine  made 
not  adequtr  79;  suggestion  for 
use  of,  142  Jf .     See  nature  lures. 

Bait,  choice  of,  for  bass,  24,  27,  30, 
32,  33,  35,  38,  135;  for  chub,  24, 
29,  33,  38,  39;  for  muskellunge,  35, 
39;  for  perch,  24,  32,  38;  for  pick- 
erel, 33,  35,  38;  for  pike,  35,  39, 
140;  for  salmon,  140;  for  trout, 
29,  32,  35,  38,  39,  44,  46,  57,  64, 
132,  136. 

Bass,  bait  for,  24,  27,  30,  32,  33,  35, 
38, 135;  care  of  young,  62;  fighting 
quaUties  of.  111,  112;  fly-casting 
for,  138,  139;  habits  of  feeding,  70, 
71,  93;  hooks  for,  138;  leaping 
above  surface,  105,  108,  110;  suit- 
able environment  for,  19,  149. 

Bottom  lures,  46,  97;  how  to  use,  87, 
151,  152. 

Breeding,  of  game-fish,  2,  7. 

Brown  trout,  bait  for,  30;  gaminess 
of,  4,  107;  leaping  above  surface, 
108;  other  names  for,  103.  See 
trout. 

Bullhead,  135. 

Caddis,  46-49,  137. 

Cannibalism,  among  game-fish,  14, 

15. 
Casting,  144-146. 
Caterpillar,    as   bait,    38;   artificial 

model,  136. 
Chinook    salmon,    use    of    trolling 

shiner  for,  133. 


Chub,  bait  for,  24,  29,  33,  38,  39. 

Crawfish,  value  as  bait,  27,  28;  arti- 
ficial model,  28,  135. 

Creepers,  effectiveness  of  new  arti- 
ficial, 46.  51. 

Cricket,  effective  live  bait,  29;  use  of 
artificial,  30,  31,  136. 

Dragon-flies,  as  bait,  38,  39,  136. 

Environment,  importance  of  in 
planting  fish,  19. 

Floating  lures,  128  ff. 

Food,   factor  in  determining  bait, 

91-93;  importance  of  in  game-fish 

growth,  2,  3,   20,   21,   174,   175; 

ways  to  increase  supply  of,  10, 176. 
Frog,  as  bait,  35,  36;  difficulty  of 

catching,  117,  118;  should  not  be 

cast,  145. 

Game-fish,  importance  of  choosing 
food  for,  172,  173;  need  of  pre- 
serving, iff.,  7,  8. 

Gaminess,  quality  of,  4,  14,  15,  59. 

Grasshopper,  as  live  bait,  31;  success 
of  artificial,  32,  135. 

Grayling,  gamy  qualities  of,  12,  13, 
109;  transplanting  of,  110. 

Hellgranmaite,  as  bait,  24-26,  53, 
137. 

Insects,  aquatic,  importance  of  in 
trout-fishing,  55-58,  62,  74. 

Lamprey,  as  live  bait,  33;  destruc- 
tion of  desirable,  34;  use  of  arti- 
ficial, 34,  136,  137. 


185 


186 


INDEX 


Leaders,  gut,  149,  159. 
Leaping,  gamy  quality  of,  102 jf.,  107. 
Line,  choice  of,  149,  158,  159. 
Live  bait,  brandy  as  stimulant  for, 

123-125;  disadvantages  of  using, 

2,  8,  15  jf.     See  bait. 
Lures,  see  nature  lures. 

Minnows,  breeding  of,  21,  22;  dis- 
tribution of,  20,  21;  economic  im- 
portance of,  15,  16,  17;  fly  min- 
now, 137,  138;  value  as  game-fish 
food,  16,  96;  varieties  of  artificial, 
137-141. 

Mouse,  effectiveness  of  as  bait,  39. 

Muskellunge,  bait  for,  35,  39;  leap- 
ing above  surface,  105. 

Nature  lures — ^bullhead,  135;  cater- 
pillar, 38,  136;  crawfish,  135;  frog, 
36, 135;  grasshopper,  32, 135;  hell- 
grammite,  26,  53,  135-136;  min- 
now, 129-134. 

Night  fishing,  73  /. 

Nymph-creeper,  46,  47. 

Ouananiche,  105. 


Protection,  need  of  for  undersized 
fish,  4,  5. 

Rainbow,  bait  for,  26;  gaminess  of, 

4,107.    See  trout. 
Reels,  choice  of,  159. 
River  fishing,  146. 
Rods,  choice  of,  147-149,  158. 

Salmon,  bait  for,  140;  favorite 
haunts  of,  91;  leaping  above  sur- 
face, 112-114. 

State  hatcheries,  2,  176. 

Stimulant,  use  of  for  live  bait,  123- 
125. 

Surface  fishing,  96/.;  lures  for,  149, 
150. 

Trolling,  99,  153. 

Trout,  bait  for,  29,  32,  35,  44,  46,  57, 
64,  132,  136,  153,  154;  favorite 
haunts  of,  80  ff.;  fly-casting  for, 
84/.,  138;  habits  of  feeding,  56,  57, 
70,  100;  hooks  for,  138;  lures  for, 
67,  63;  manner  of  taking  bait,  132, 
146;  season  for,  9-11;  time  of  day 
to  fish  for,  56. 


Perch,  bait  for,  24,  32,  38. 
Pickerel,  bait  for,  24,  33;  food  of,  18; 

habits  of,  99. 
Pike,  bait  for,  35,  39,  140;  location 

of,  93,  99. 
Planting,  of  fish,  19. 


Undersized  fish,  danger  of  capturing, 
4,5. 

Water-beetles,  40,  41. 
Worm,  good  trout  bait,  64;  impor- 
tance of  overstated,  42. 


CATALOGUE      OF 
AN    EXHIBITION    OF 


ay--- 


OIL  PAINTINGS  Ii 

LOUIS  RHEAD 

(Gold  Medal  Award,  St.  Louis  Exposition  for  GamefisK  Picture) 

OF  AMERICAN  MARINE  AND 
FRESHWATER  GAMEFISH 
IN    THEIR    NATIVE    HABITAT 


^■^ 


AT  THE  ANDERSON  GALLERIES 

(MITCHELL  KENNERLEY,  President) 
PARK   AVENUE  AND   FIFTY- NINTH  STREET.   NEW   YORK 
FROM  MARCH  18  TO  29-OPEN  WEEK-DAYS  10  TO  6,  SUNDAYS  2  TO  5  P.M. 


The  present  collection  of  game  fish  studies  has  been  made  during  the 
last  twenty-five  years  especially  to  satisfy  the  peculiar  requirements  of 
anglers,  scientists,  and  government  officials.  To  please  his  patrons  the 
artist  has  endeavored  to  study  and  copy  each  species  of  fish  in  action  as 
near  to  nature  as  possible,  and  from  the  living  fresh  caught  specimens 
before  the  dying,   dull,    color-change  appears. 

Only  the  angler  is  really  familiar  with  the  beautiful  color  of  the  live 
fish  when  taken  from  its  natural  habitat.  Aquarium  specimens  which 
exist,  (even  a  short  time)  in  a  subdued  light,  soon  fade,  and  gradually  lose 
that  beauty  of  color  which  is  theirs  when  they  are  first  taken  from  their 
natural  environment  and  deprived  of  their  natural  food.  Most  people  know 
fish  only  from  the  corpse-like  objects  exposed  for  sale  in  shops  and  very 
few  (even  anglers)  have  ever  seen  the  glorious  beauty  of  the  male  brook 
trout  in  his  nuptial  attire  in  the  spawning  period.  Again,  fish  caught  in 
shady  deep-water  are  much  darker  than  the  same  fish  caught  in  light- 
shallow  water,  and,  as  with  other  creatures,  the  male  is  always  more  highly 
colored.  Both  sexes  have  less  coloring  in  spring  than  in  the  fall  spawning 
season. 

Among    the    paintings    shown    are    various    studies    of    the    three    most 

popular    species    of    trout    caught    on    the    Eastern    Seaboard Brook    trout, 

Brown  or  English  trout  (sometimes  erroneously  named  German  trout) 
and  Rainbow  trout.  Each  of  these  has  a  distinct  coloration  varied  according 
to  its  habitat,  so  that  each  must  be  painted  in  a  manner  which  I  can  only 
describe  as  Idealisic  Realism.  Even  that,  where  comparatively  successful, 
requires  an  accurate  memory  and  many  careful  though  quickly  worked 
preparatory  studies.  The  work  here  shown  is  the  result  of  efforts  in  that 
direction. 


LIST  OF  MARINE  GAMEFISH 

BLUE    FISH   (POMATOMUS    SALTATRIX) 

"Plunging  into  a  school  of  moss  bunkers  with  snapping  jaws,  it 
gorges  and  disgorges  as  it  moves  along;  in  its  wake  are  long  streaks 
of  blood,  and  flocks  of  gulls  feeding  on  the  fragments." 

Prof.   Brown  Goode. 

STRIPED    BASS  (BACCUS   LISCATUS)  A  dash  through  the  surf. 
TARPON    (MEGALOPS    THISSOIDES)     A  leap  for  freedom. 
LEAPING    TUNA   (ORCYNUS    THYNNUS) 
WEAKFISH   (CYNOSCION    REGALE) 
STRIPED   BASS  (YOUNG   SPECIMEN) 


SELECTION    OF    TWELVE    BERMUDA    MARINE    FISHES 


PORTRAIT    OF    IZAAK    WALTON 
(After  picture  in  National  Portrait  Gallery,  London) 


LIST  OF  FRESHWATER  GAMEFISH 

ATLANTIC    SALMON   (SALMO    SALAR).     Five  examples. 
RAINBOW    TROUT   (SALMO    IRIDENO).     Four  examples. 
BROWN     TROUT    (SALMO     FARIO).      Four   examples. 
BROOK    TROUT   (SALVELINUS  FONTINALIS).     Fourteen  examples. 
OUANANICHE    (SALMO     SEBAGO).      Two    examples. 

GRAYLING  (THYMALLUS    TRICOLOR).     One  example. 

MASCALONGE    (ESOX     MASQUINONGY).      Three    examples. 
PIKE    (ESOX     LUCIOUS).      Three    examples. 
BASS    (MICROPTERUS    DOLOMIEU).     Eight  examples. 
BASS    (MICROPTERUS    SALMOIDES).      Eight  examples. 

LANDSCAPE,   GRANDE     DECHARGE.      Three   examples. 

LANDSCAPE,   TROUT     FISHING.       Four    examples. 

BIRCH     BARK    (FOUR     SPECIES     TROUT).      Four   examples. 

MOUNTED     SALMON     SKIN    (Caught   by    F.    Gray   Griswold,    Esq.,    in 
the   Cascapedia). 

MOUNTED    PICKEREL. 


FOLIO    OF    THIRTY    WATERCOLOR    PAINTINGS    OF    FISHES 


j  ^ 


1 

FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

24Jul'56  JV 

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